The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Ajax heroics must act as an inspiration to Hoops
Interim Celtic boss Neil Lennon believes Ajax should be a great inspiration to the Hoops in Europe.
The Dutch club are the talk of European football following their dismantling of holders Real Madrid in their Champions League last-16 tie, with the stunning 4-1 win in the Bernabeu on Tuesday night taking them through to the quarter-finals.
In his first spell as Celtic manager, Lennon, who took over from Brendan Rodgers after his fellow Northern Irishman departed for Leicester, guided the Parkhead club to the last 16 of the Champions League in 2013, where they lost to Juventus.
Neither his successor Ronny Deila nor Rodgers managed that feat in their combined five seasons at the helm.
Ahead of the visit of Aberdeen, Lennon said of Ajax: “It was magnificent but they have spent a bit of money.
“Dusan Tadic has gone in there for £15 million to £18m so maybe the wage bill is around what we have but they have definitely improved financially. But it is fantastic and it should be a great inspiration for clubs like us.
“It takes a bit of time to build teams for that level. It took me three years to really build a good team to compete at a good level and get through the group.
“Thisteam, withafewmoreadditions, would be capable of competing at that level again, at a good level. But congratulations to Ajax, it was a wonderful performance.”
While it remains to be seen if Lennon gets the chance of another European campaign with Celtic, he insisted he will have a part to play in shaping the club’s future.
Scott Sinclair, Dedryck Boyata, Mikael Lustig, Emilio Izaguirre, Cristian Gamboa and Dorus de Vries are out of contract at the end of the season.
Loan men Jeremy Toljan, Oliver Burke, Timothy Weah and Filip Benkovic are all due to return to their parent clubs
The former Celtic skipper said: “I am meeting with Peter (Lawwell, chief executive) on Wednesday and with Lee (Congerton, head of recruitment) about recruitment.
“It is just business as usual, club business. And I am part of that.”