A year ago, the idea of the Celtic manager aiming barbs at the First Minister would've been a rather far-fetched one.
Even after a full 12 months of the world being turned upside down, it still feels a bit surreal.
And yet, here we are, with Neil Lennon taking exception to Nicola Sturgeon mentioning Celtic when addressing Rangers' five Covid rule-breakers.
The FM has been asked to comment on a number of football-related incidents since the season kicked off, starting all the way back in August with Boli Bolingoli and the Aberdeen 8.
This time, after the Ibrox quintet were caught partying last Saturday, Sturgeon urged football as a whole to "get its house in order".
She said: "I don’t care whether it’s Celtic, Rangers, or any other club, it’s not on, so please stop breaking the rules.”
That prompted Lennon to question the need to mention Celtic, as he said on Friday: “There just seemed to be a different tack to when she was speaking about us.
“The fact she brought us into the answer sort of baffled me as well.
“I think we as a club have been treated differently from other clubs and other parts of society as well.
“I said all I needed to say after Dubai. I said it smacked of hypocrisy and I am not changing from that.
“That is all I am going to say about it.”
But it's not the first time Sturgeon has copped flak for this. Indeed, the shoe was on the other foot back in December.
She condemned angry scenes of protest following Celtic's Betfred Cup exit to Ross County with a similarly broad admonishment.
"I don't care if you're a Celtic fan, a Rangers fan, an Ayr United fan or no fan of football at all," Sturgeon said.
"Anybody who attacks police officers is doing wrong and that is pretty despicable.
"I would say that across the board regardless of football or any other sporting affiliation."
On that occasion, Sturgeon invited the wrath of Ally McCoist who, almost word-for-word, expressed the same frustration Lennon later would.
He said: "Getting back to Nicola, I don't know what she was doing bringing Rangers and poor Ayr United into it, but that's probably a topic for another discussion."
Of course, Lennon's frustration with Holyrood extends beyond the choice of words at Sturgeon's coronavirus briefings.
The Irishman believes there's been an altogether more heavy-handed approach in dealing with his club, who had matches postponed following Bolingoli's infamous trip to Spain.
Lennon continued: “Odd? Hypocritical. I could use a lot of words.
“But I’m not going to because I don’t want the story to be about me.
“I have come out and called it as I saw it. And people have thrown all sorts back at me.
“But my conscience was clear at the time and still is.
“And I don’t want to take the government on again, but you can tell there is a bit of discontent there.”
