ON MCGINN
“Well, having played golf with him out in Portugal in the summer the only words he needs to learn are fore and ball right.”
The pair will put their friendship to one side when thirdplacedsaintshosthibstomorrow afternoon.
Lennon said: “We go back over 20 years to playing together for the Northern Irish team. We kept in touch through all those years and we see each other every year in Portugal on our wee holiday.
“I’d never seen him as a manager back in our playing days, but he’s a very smart guy with a big personality.
“He showed real resilience throughouthiscareer,because he had some really bad injuries to contend with. But he was a really talented goalkeeper.
“He used to wear a leotard. A leotard under his training kit.
“Oh, he’s never told you about the leotard, has he? Surprise!
“I used to call him Mick Mcmanus because it was this all-in-one thing that he used to
NEIL LENNON pull on with the straps over the shoulders.
“Itwasjustoneofthoseunder armour things, you know. But it looked like a wrestler’s outfit, covering him all the way down there.
“That’s what he gets for slagging off my golf!”
Lennon, however, has been impressed by how Wright has constantly defied the modest resources on offer at the Perth outfit to mastermind three successive fourth-place league finishes and a Scottish Cup triumph.
“I’m surprised that someone hasn’t tried to pinch him,” he added:
“But he seems happy there and has brought great success. Winning the Scottish Cup was fantastic and a top-four finish in this day and age for St Johnstone is spectacular, really.
“I watched him against Celtic and they were good value for the draw. Not many teams are good value for a point at Celtic park.
“He is smart, he’s tactically very astute and he sets his team up well. And he knows what he’s doing with players, knows how to get the best thing out of his players. That’s a great quality to have.”
Lennon was awaiting news of Darren Mcgregor’s visit to a specialist last night after admitting that the defender may have to undergo a minor operationtomendapersistent knee injury.
“There’s still more time for us to develop John and for John to develop himself into a more allround player”