It is glory, not hard cash that will drive O’Neill’s protégé in Champions League mission

By Alison McConnell

IT IS rare to hear the Champions League group stages quoted in Scottish terms without the ‘lucrative’ addendum.

Little wonder why — Celtic’s last involvement in the tournament bolstered their finances by almost £33million. To give this its proper context, it is worth pointing out that the Parkhead side banked just under £3.5m for winning their eighth successive title in May.

Neil Lennon’s qualification journey will begin in just over two weeks’ time when Celtic host FK Sarajevo, the Bosnia and Herzegovinian champions, and so much of the focus of a gruelling campaign to get to the group stages revolves around the considerable financial injection it provides.

Former Celtic boss Martin O’Neill, the first manager to lead the club into the group stages of the tournament in 2001, at the expense of Ajax, believes that the motivation for Lennon and his squad, however, is not what

they might do with the money that rolls in but rather how they might fare against the cream of what Europe has to offer.

‘People talk about the finances and I understand that, I really do,’ said O’Neill.

‘It opens access to a lucrative avenue that is otherwise closed off to Celtic but I can honestly say that, in my time at the club, getting into the Champions League and trying to get one or two results in the group stages was all about prestige.

‘I’m not sure the money aspect would have entered my head and I’m pretty sure it is the same for the players. You want to test yourself in the biggest club tournament of them all.

‘You want the chance to go and compete against the best players and the best teams and I am not too sure that there is anywhere more special than Celtic Park on those big European nights. You thought the roof might come off some nights and they are very special memories for me.

‘We had some fantastic nights against the likes of Juventus and Bayern Munich and Lyon — and I always felt there was something very unique about Celtic Park on those nights.

‘For these players now as they get set to go again, that experience and that thrill is their motivation.’

If Lennon was on his best behaviour as he steered Celtic towards a third domestic Treble in the wake of Brendan Rodgers’ midnight flit in February, there is a feeling that the anxious nature of the qualifiers might well see the mask slip a little.

And while O’Neill expects Lennon’s experience as both manager and coach in this environment to be crucial, he expects that there will be a few sleepless nights for his former midfielder to endure.

‘Teams that you think you’d see off with very little bother in October or November are teams that can be a real banana skin if you are playing them in your first real competitive games of the season,’ said O’Neill.

‘Neil knows what the qualifiers are all about having played in them and having managed them. I do think these games are huge for Celtic and you know that right away by the pressure that is around them. If you are bringing in players and you are trying to gel a team together, it can be fraught.

‘But the good thing is that he has had time to assess what he has and he’ll look to put his own stamp on it now, I’m sure.

‘He’ll know the way he wants them to play and he’ll have one or two ideas about what he’ll want to bring in.’