‘Incredible’ says Lennon as Celtic reflect on magnitude of their feat
The shakiness and scar es experienced by his Celtic side in their Scottish Cup final shoot- out success over Hearts were brushed aside in the aftermath by Neil Lennon as he reflected on the magnitude of a triumph.
The success brought up an unprecedented quad rup let reblef or the club and claimed Lennon the ac colade of being the first man in the history of the Scottish game to bank a domestic clean sweep both as a player and manager.
The Covid- delayed decider behind closed doors threatened to become another stick with which to beat Lennon in a torturous season of so many such brickbats. Celtic squandered a 2-0 first-half lead, and then a 3-2 ad vanta ge in extra-time before prevailing 4-3 in a shootout, courtesy of Celtic keeper Conor Hazard atoning for an uncertain display with two crucial saves.
Lennon, as was his right, chose only to accentuate the positive sand concentrate on what will be lodged in the record books: an incredible feat that cap san extra ordinary period of domination, by am an now out on his own because of it. “I’m feeling wonderful, I’m very, very proud ,” Lennon said .“It’ s a monument al achievement for the players, the club and for me personally. I couldn’t be more happy. It’ s quite unique and we’ ll probably never see the like soft his again in our lifetimes. It’s just a shame there weren’ tpeople here to witness what was a great cup final. We were pushed all the way by a very good side and its how show difficult it is to win trophies.
“It means everything[ to be the first man to win a treble as both manager and player ]. To be the first person to achieve this? It feels so, so special. A lot of work goes on behind the scenes, a lot of thinking, a lot of heart break at times. I’ve had some great moments, but this is the best. It means so much to me.
“I missed out on th et reb let he first time I was here as a manager. You’ re thinking during the game that you can’ t miss this opportunity because it might not come again, but it’ s just mon umental for me and my family. I’ m very emotional. I’ m trying to keep them all in at the minute but it’ s difficult. At half-time It old the team that the next goal would be imp or tant, whether it went to Hearts or us. If you get the third, you’ re cruising, but ,if you concede it, they get a little bit of encouragement, which they did. You’ve got to give Hearts credit for pushin gus all the way but, after the 90 minutes, we thought they were tiring and the subs came on.
“I think [Leigh] Griffiths is a footballing genius when it comes to goal scoring and I thought: ‘surely this is it now’ [when he scored the third] but we conceded again from a set play, our bug bear this season. Bear in mind the weight of expectation and the burden that the player shave been under. I can’ t believe I’m sitting here talking about a quadruplet reble.F or all the success we had in the late1960s, these guys have won trebles now four seasons in a row. It’s just incredible.”