It means world to me that I’m in haul of fame with Billy
Lenny joy as he wins clean sweep as boss and player
BY KEITH JACKSON ANOTHER day another trophy. Another little bit of history made.
Yesterday at Hampden, on the 19th anniversary of the day he signed for Celtic as a player, Neil Lennon added a 10th straight major trophy to the silver stockpile building up in the Parkhead boardroom.
And in so doing he also became only the second man to win all three of Scotland’s biggest honours for the same club as player and manager.
Following in the footsteps of none other than the late, great Billy McNeill.
“I didn’t want to talk about that before the game but it means the world to me,” Lennon beamed proudly as he reflected on this latest, hardfought triumph.
“The League Cup has been something of a monkey on my back. It owed me one. It’s nice to tick that box as a manager.
“Obviously you want to do it in spectacular fashion at times but that’s not always possible. When we played here against Kilmarnock in the 2012 final we should have had it home and hosed but we lost. So I feel I was due one.
“But we now march on and look forward.
“I’m going to give some of them a rest this week for the Cluj game as we have five or six big games before New Year. But I’m just so proud of them.
“They have the day off on Monday so I’m sure they’ll also be delighted with that.”
By the looks of things some of them will need the extra R&R more than others because this was without question Celtic’s least convincing cup final display of the recent monopoly years.
Despite being dominated by Rangers all over the pitch they found a way to win it.
All of which just make this one even sweeter for a manager who could not hide his own delight when it was finally over – but who was so concerned during the match that he did not dare to celebrate the Christopher Jullien goal that won it.
He went on: “It’s up there. There are many ways to win a game of football and obviously over the past eight to 10 weeks we have been playing scintillating, brilliant, breathtaking football.
“Today we had to roll up our sleeves and dig in because we weren’t there. At times you have to accept that, that it’s not happening and you have to be resolute, and we were.
“I didn’t feel like celebrating the goal because there was still a long way to go in the game.
“I was delighted for Jullien. I thought he was a little bit tentative in the first half with it being his first cup final.
“But he got stronger and stronger. It’s a bit like his Celtic career. For him to score the winner in a cup final for Celtic will do his confidence the world of good.” But it was Fraser Forster who stole the show with all manner of heroic contributions. Now his saves have set Celtic up for another tilt at the Treble.
And Lennon nodded: “I’ve not seen a goalkeeping performance or keeper like him for a long time. In his first spell here he did some incredible things and now he’s doing it again in his second spell.
“We’re grateful to have him. He’s buzzing and thrilled to be here. We needed him. He just stood up and made saves that other keepers can’t make.
“It’s massive for us to win this cup. Absolutely massive. It’s a huge psychological lift.
“I don’t know what you would compare it with other clubs around the world or other teams in Scottish football. I’ve not really looked into that but it’s incredible.
“It’s easy to give it up, to think, ‘Oh it’s not our day today and that’s the end of it’ but they just won’t. It’s amazing. They are an incredible group of players.
“That’s 31 cup ties undefeated, 31 over a period of three and a bit years. That’s amazing.
“We had a stiff challenge today but we’ve had that before from Aberdeen and another against Hearts.
“These boys keep finding ways to win. It’s fantastic footballing ability, athleticism and mental strength.” first League Cup as boss to complete glory haul man and afterwards he said: “Oh my days. “When you get sent off like that, I was inside panicking. It was the worst feeling ever. “Every time Rangers got the ball I was just panicking. “The time was going so slow but the team held it through and I am buzzing obviously. “Chris went to clear it, it ricocheted off someone and Morelos was through on goal. “Obviously my natural instincts was to put him off a little bit because he was through on goal, all he had to do was a tap-in. “But Fraser is unstoppable. I love him. He saved me.”