Lennon set to surpass O’neill’s Euro record

Neil Lennon’s place in Celtic history is secure on many counts whether or not he leads the club to a tenth successive title.

Whatever happens, he is already guaranteed to surpass the number of European games in which Martin O’neill took charge of Celtic. This week’s Champions League qualifying win against KR Reykjavik took Lennon, inset, level with O’neill on 53 games. Next week’s clash with Ferencvaros will see him eclipse O’neill.

Lennon has been a manager for 61 games in Europe in total, having also led Hibs eight times. Only Jim Mclean, Walter Smith and Jock Stein have been in charge of a Scottish club more times in Europe.

I am indebted to David Ross, the estimable football statistician and author, for these startling numbers.

Lennon still has some ground to cover before reaching Stein’s total of 71 games with Celtic. But no-one should bet against him doing so.