Lamont contacted the Otago Daily Times yesterday to offer a rebuttal to the stinging comments made by former player Blair Scoullar.
In yesterday's newspaper, the experienced Scoullar revealed his disillusion at the performance of the board, claiming it lacked ambition and was not doing enough to keep the team competitive.
But Lamont has fired back by saying Scoullar is unhappy at not being wanted by the team and that the Otago United board has done everything it can to keep the franchise going in difficult circumstances.
"We can always do better. But we're doing something that nobody else in town has ever done," Lamont said.
"We've stayed in the league for six years. We've raised probably the best part of $2 million in that period.
"I get very annoyed when somebody who hasn't shown great commitment to the team slags us off."
Lamont, who has chaired the board since the team entered the New Zealand Football Championship, said Scoullar's claim the board lacked ambition was errant.
If it were true, the team would not be in the league.
"We're trying our hardest for the future of Otago football. If we fall out of the league, I would suspect we'd never get a national league team in Otago again," Lamont said.
"People have to be realistic. We struggle in the South because of our population. We don't win much.
"To have a team in the national league is something we should be proud of. Plenty of teams would happily take our place."
Scoullar also claimed Otago United was doing little to boost its funding streams to help recruit more talented players.
Lamont, while conceding the team had cashflow problems, said the board - himself, Malcolm Barnes, Guy Hedderwick, Gary Binnie and Gerry Sannum - and general manager Marc Chidley raised more than $400,000 every year in a difficult market.
With few sponsors and negligible gate takings, Otago United could not afford to throw money around. The franchise also had to be wary of over-extending itself financially, as the national league, already abbreviated, had an uncertain future.
"Until we know what the future holds, we're keeping a very tight rein on things."
Lamont questioned Scoullar's commitment to Otago by pointing out Scoullar had chosen to play for Canterbury United for two seasons.
Scoullar had made "ridiculous demands" for payment before he left, Lamont said.
"I wouldn't exactly say you'd see blue and gold in Blair if you cut him in half.
"He wouldn't have been picked this season. Frankly, he's been lucky to be in the squad the last couple of years.
He's been living out of town, and he's of a shape and disposition that, if you leave him to his own devices, he gets unfit.
"If he exercised other parts of his body as much as his mouth, he'd be far better off.
"I don't doubt Blair's abilities. He's got skill. But Otago didn't see the best of him because he wasn't subjected to the rigours of training."
Lamont confirmed it had taken some time after the season finished for Otago United players to get the small amounts of reimbursement they were owed. That was unavoidable because the franchise did not have a regular flow of cash, and the board had apologised to the players.
Lamont accepted Otago United's poor record over the past three seasons did not make for pleasant reading.
He could not question the efforts of former coach Terry Phelan or the players, but wondered if the team was simply finding it hard to shake the losing habit.
"When you lose regularly, it starts to seem harder and harder to get a win. You start leading games with 20 minutes to go and then losing.
"Perhaps other teams have a certain self-belief and arrogance that we lack. We also don't have the depth or the financial resources of other clubs."
Lamont said he had "total confidence" in new coach Malcolm Fleming and in the squad Fleming was putting together for the new season.
