THE first all-Edinburgh Scottish Cup final since Victoria was an Empress, Britannia ruled the waves, Dundreeries were all the rage and Gilbert and Sullivan were top of the pops - that ought to have been the main headlines on the back pages today, but, what was it instead - the perennial Ginger Whinger having another strop.
Don't worry though, Celtic fans; the SFA will do a wee fudge and Lenny will get a string of touchline bans and maybe a fine - but the bans will be served concurrently and he will soon be back, snarling away at everyone like a good un.
When I moved into my current home in a small former mining village in Ayrshire, some 30-odd years ago now, I bought it from a retired teacher at the village school. Locals tell me old Dickie had this endearing habit, at the start of the first lesson of each academic year, he gave every boy in every class six of the tawse - because they needed it and to get their attention. Maybe the SFA should try this with Lenny prior to the kick-off in the first match of the season.
He is certainly developing into a serial screamer: "Infamy,infamy - they all had it in for me", Kenneth Williams' great line from "Carry on Cleo" has now become wee Lenny's theme song.
OK, I've seen play waved on for handball incidents such as that which allowed Craig Beattie to put Hearts into the cup final, but, this wasn't the first iffy/doubtful/controversial handball penalty I've seen given, and it won't be the last. I don't know if Lenny did much Kipling at school back in Lurgan (I doubt it somehow), but really, he has extreme difficulty in facing those twin imposters, triumph and disaster and treating them both the same. And until he learns to do this, he will devalue his personal standing as a manager.
Last season, Lenny presided over the (on paper) strongest squad in Scotland - they won just one trophy. This season Celtic's paper strength advantage over the other clubs was even-greater; they have won the SPL at a canter, obviously aided by Rangers ten-point deduction, but, again they have won just one trophy from the three available to them. Add another flat season in Europe, even after being re-instated in the committee room, following elimination on the field and you feel, somewhere in the upper environs of Celtic Park, just maybe, somebody is thinking: "Is Lenny the man to take us where we want to go?"
As I have said, I have had virtually no contact with Lenny, but friends whose judgement I trust and who know him both in a football context and in a social one tell be, away from the game, he is lovely guy. He has, as a manager, proved himself a winner - but, again the question has to be asked, given the had he was dealt these past two seasons, has he under-performed.
Then there is the public's perception of him. Of course, to a certain section of the Celtic Family, creating a siege mentality, forging the Us against Them attitude plays well, but, might it be self-defeating in the long run?
Sure, there will always be Celtic-minded people who will put money into the club, regardless of how the manager is perceived in the wider world, but, in the real world of big business, with big promotional budgets, the market Celtic has to deal in to finance the club's aspirations, a manager who is seen as a wee, snivelling, snarling yobo is not the ideal partner in a promotional venture.
I accept that Lenny is perhaps more sinned against than sinning. He has had to face threats of real harm coming to him; he has been assaulted in public; his family has to live with daily close security and cannot have a "normal" life (whatever normal is) - I would not blame Lenny if he was to decide: "I've had enough of life in the Glasgow goldfish bowl".
But, that said, perhaps, if he cannot find a modicum of self-control when decisions go against his club; if he is unwilling to accept that, even if that decision is a wrong one, the referee's decision is final, and no amount of spitting the dummy afterwards will get it changed - somebody upstairs at Celtic Park will say: "Enough is enough, Lenny, it's time for you to go".
Perhaps he needs anger-management therapy, counselling of some sort, or, as a worst-case scenario, to get out of Glasgow, but, if he is not helped or guided better, then I will not be the only one feeling that Lenny's not an asset to the Celtic.
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