Sheridan given dressing down in nightclub meet

LENNON: Former Saints striker got hairdryer treatment from Celtic boss

Former St Johnstone forward Cillian Sheridan has told how his old Celtic boss Neil Lennon gave him the hairdryer treatment in a nightclub for going out too much during his time at Mcdiarmid Park.

Lennon let Sheridan, 31, leave Glasgow for CSKA Sofia during his first spell as Hoops manager in 2010.

When the Irishman returned to Scotland for a second loan stint with Saints a year later, it wasn’t long before he got a dressing down from the Parkhead hero on a night out.

“He slaughtered me,” Sheridan told the Open Goal podcast.

“I was on loan at St Johnstone from Bulgaria, I’d left Celtic and he was the manager. He called me over and was like, ‘What are you doing with yourself? You’re going to be back in Ireland playing Gaelic football, you don’t care’.

“At the time I took it as, what are you talking about? You’re not my manager.

“I didn’t argue back with him but in my head I was kind of p***ed off about it

“Looking back I can see why he’s said it – to give me a kick up the a***.”

Sheridan – now with Polish side Wisła Płock – scored 11 times in 50 appearances for St Johnstone across his two Perth loans. Also born out of his time at Mcdiarmid Park was a close friendship with Jody Morris, now Frank Lampard’s No2 at Chelsea.

He said: “I’m not surprised at all – I always thought he [Jody] would be a top coach. Anytime he spoke about football, you’d understand everything he was saying. He made it click. I think he was underappreciated [as a player] when he was in Scotland.”

Sheridan was handed his senior debut during the 2006/07 campaign by ex-celts manager Gordon Strachan, now Dundee’s technical director.

He is indebted to the former Scotland boss for bringing him on as a substitute at Old Trafford against Man United – and handing him an unexpected appearance bonus – in the Champions League in 2008.

Sheridan said: “Strachan brought me over and I think he said, ‘Will you get a bonus for coming on here, an appearance?’

“Then he said, ‘Just go out and enjoy it’. “He was good like that. It’s after it you realise the little things he was saying to you. A lot of things at the time he was saying to you, you wouldn’t get it. After it though, you appreciate it.

“Even now I’ll think of certain things he said and put them into games.”

SNS. Cillian Sheridan was on loan at St Johnstone when he bumped into his old Celtic boss in a nightclub.