I’ll take great pride when I’m watching Van Dijk win league title with Liverpool
NEIL LENNON TALKS WITH CHRIS SUTTON ABOUT RETURN OF FOOTBALL, HIS DEBT TO O’NEILL, AND THE BID FOR TEN IN A ROW
NEIL LENNON is thinking back to the night Martin O’Neill and a Domino’s pizza box changed his life. It was February 14, 1996 and O’Neill, then manager of Leicester City, had rocked up at the Manchester home Lennon was renting with a friend.
The midfielder was all set to sign for Coventry in the Premier League. Terms were agreed, including wages of £1,000 per week and a £100,000 signing-on fee. So O’Neill and his assistant John Robertson had some persuading to do.
‘He was this whirlwind of energy and compliments,’ remembers the man who has guided Celtic to their ninth consecutive title. ‘Martin described the house as a “hovel”. That was flattering, really. But he basically sold Leicester to me. Me and my mate had been living on pizzas. Martin picked up a box, wrote down the terms and handed it to me. It was one of those sliding-doors moments. I signed for Leicester in the Championship.’
After following his mentor to Celtic as a player and then manager, Lennon has dispelled the doubts of those fans who felt he wasn’t the right man to replace Brendan Rodgers — and now has his sights on a historic ten in a row.
Sportsmail got him together with ex-Parkhead team-mate Chris Sutton to discuss what he has already achieved at Celtic and what the future holds.
SUTTON: It’s now 20 years since O’Neill became Celtic manager. He clearly had an influence on you as a coach.
LENNON: At Leicester, he did amazing things. At Celtic, he changed the landscape of the game. Ten years under Martin was the making of me. I learned a hell of a lot about the psychology of the game from him and he’s still a port of call for me because he’s walked in these shoes.
SUTTON: O’Neill and Robertson in turn learned from Brian Clough and Peter Taylor at Nottingham Forest.
LENNON: They would have been very, very similar, the way they’d sell the club and their ideas. There was nothing corporate about them. It was about emotion. It was psychological. It was about getting the best out of you. When I played under Martin, I’d run through brick walls for him. His manmanagement was second to none.
SUTTON: He didn’t mind dishing out the hairdryer treatment, towards me or you.
LENNON: He ripped into me a few times! When I was sent off on occasion, he made me realise it wasn’t about being the token hard man, because you were only letting yourself and your team-mates down. Very rarely did we fall out but the majority of the time he was right to pull me up, either for a lack of professionalism or respect.
SUTTON: Is it fair to say you’ve mellowed as a manager?
LENNON: I’m not as reactive as I was. I take more time to analyse things. I speak to the players the way they want to be spoken to. They’re a different breed now. It’s very rare you lose your temper. You get frustrated. That’s natural. But I’m more pensive when dealing with certain situations, like player predicaments or form. You never know if you’re cut out for management. I remember talking to Mark McGhee towards the end of my career. I said: ‘Mark, I don’t know if I’m ready’. He told me: ‘You can never know if you’re ready. Test yourself’.
LENNON replaced Rodgers midway through the 2018-19 season when the treble Treble was on the line. Anything less than perfection in his second spell in charge would have been considered a failure. LENNON: There was huge scrutiny on myself. You don’t want to be the one to break up the dominant run and I felt that. When Brendan left for Leicester, it was the end of February. There was huge pressure.
SUTTON: You got there in the end and Celtic extended your contract. LENNON: Then our priority became to win the nine. We’re disappointed (the campaign) was curtailed at a time when we were so dominant and playing such great football. But it was a magnificent achievement by the club, the players, everyone who has contributed to this over the decade. You made history, Lenny, and a tenth title would be even more historic. Say you secure that, is there a part of you which might think you’ve achieved all you can at Celtic?
LENNON: You can’t get too far ahead of yourself. The ten is at the forefront of all of our motivation, and Europe is a big carrot as well. Can we negotiate the Champions League qualifying rounds, get into the group stage and have a real go at that? Where I am this time next year, I don’t know. I’m sure I’ll still have plenty of fire in the belly, no matter what the outcome of next season is.
SUTTON: Is there a part of you that wants to manage in the English Premier League?
LENNON: I love Celtic and we’ve got huge motivation going into next season. When you’re younger, you look ahead, and that’s a mistake. I want to take this team on. It is something which would appeal but I don’t know when and if that scenario will ever occur. A lot of managers in Europe would love the opportunity to manage in the Premier League. But I’m already at one of the best clubs in Europe. I’m happy with what I’ve got at the minute and I want more. I want to get better.
SUTTON: When Premier League jobs come up down south, or even Championship jobs, I don’t see your name linked. Doesn’t that make you feel under-appreciated?
LENNON: That’s a loaded question! I’m not here to put myself out there to attract other clubs. I’m here to make Celtic and myself better. Sometimes the Scottish game gets a little downplayed but in last year’s Champions League final, we had Andy Robertson, Virgil van Dijk, Victor Wanyama.
SUTTON: Steven Gerrard gets linked with jobs.
LENNON: It doesn’t bother me. Steven’s done a very good job at Rangers and he’s got a great profile. I just go about getting on with things here. Sometimes, speculation can be very unsettling. It can make you take your eye off the ball. I’m really happy with what I’m doing at Celtic. If there’s speculation surrounding me, it’s not welcome at the moment.
CELTIC’S players have returned for training ahead of the start of the new season on August 1. But during the downtime, Lennon has had his competitive fix by taking in the Bundesliga, and is looking forward to watching the Premier League return.
LENNON: There’s that main ingredient missing: the supporters. But I’ve enjoyed the games. They’ve shown it can be done. Sometimes you look on a little enviously because you want to be back working. You want to be taking part in games, in whatever shape or form that may be.
SUTTON: Celtic were crowned champions on points per game. But you’re suggesting you’re envious that other leagues get to play on?
LENNON: I’d love to have the games back. We’re looking on with a little bit of envy for now.
SUTTON: I can understand why you would have rather won (the title) inside a stadium and ideally in front of fans. If the Premier League season has to be halted a second time because of coronavirus then, like Celtic, Liverpool will probably be crowned champions on PPG, too. Would that be the right call?
LENNON: You can’t deny Liverpool the title. They’ve been the best team by a considerable distance. But the Premier League seem confident. They’ve got the resources and the will to do it.
SUTTON: Either way, we should see Van Dijk lifting that trophy soon enough. You signed him for Celtic in 2013 — for £2.6million! What did you think of him initially?
LENNON: He was Rio Ferdinand in the making. He had all those attributes — he was quick, composed, brilliant in the air in both boxes. Everything you’re
seeing now, at Premier League and European level, that’s what I saw. I couldn’t believe there was no English interest. I also couldn’t believe he was at Celtic for two seasons. I thought he might have gone after the first.
SUTTON: Are you envious of the English riches? Imagine if you kept hold of these players!
LENNON: It would be nice to be able to compete with them. I wouldn’t say ‘envious’. I like finding players under the radar. Van Dijk is the standout example. He goes for £12m to Southampton, then £75m to Liverpool, and now he’s probably the best centre-half in the world. We take pride in that. We take pride in Kieran Tierney going to Arsenal for £25m. There is a lot of untapped natural talent here. Ideally, you’d love to hold on to these players because then we’d have a strong chance of achieving something in Europe.
SUTTON: Congratulations on the ninth title again. Have you even had time to reflect on that achievement amid all this (coronavirus)?
LENNON: Given what’s happening, we’ve had plenty of time to do that. To be here as a manager sitting on nine in a row, it’s a fantastic feeling. It means everything to me, but now we want the ten.