Neil Lennon

Ok well you asked me if I'd trade Champions league campaign for 2 entire season, which is still dumb.

 

Liam Henderson believes Neil Lennon is the perfect man to take Celtic forward because of the culture he creates within a dressing room.

The Verona midfielder was just a teenager when the Irishman first sat down in the Parkhead dugout but is certain his former boss is the ideal candidate for long-term success.

Lennon is back at the club he loves on an interim basis after Brendan Rodgers' shock departure and is hoping to secure a treble Treble.

Henderson believes the 47-year-old, who handed him his big Parkhead chance, deserves a crack at the Celtic job on a long-term basis.

He told the 90-Minute Cynic podcast: "He's got Celtic in his DNA, he's a top manager. He's already won league titles and I'm sure he'll continue to give his best until the end of the season.

"It's a choice for the board but Lennon is a top man."

He took a liking to me which was great. He took me away during pre-season (in 2013) and I just thought I need to impress the gaffer.


He liked the fact that I just wanted the ball and I was never hiding. He was a huge influence on me - he's a top manager and a good person as well."

 

KIERAN Tierney has admitted he has relished working under Neil Lennon since returning to action last month and defended his interim manager’s exuberant reaction to Celtic’s late winner at Dens Park on Sunday.

Lennon sprinted down the touchline and celebrated with the travelling supporters in the Bob Shankly Stand when Odsonne Edouard scored in the 96th minute of the Ladbrokes Premiership game against Dundee.

The narrow 1-0 win sent the Glasgow club 10 points clear of their city rivals Rangers – who they take on in their first match after the international break at Parkhead on Sunday week

Tierney believed that show of emotion underlined how much the Northern Irishman, who has taken over from his countryman Brendan Rodgers until at least the end of the season, cares about Celtic enjoying continued success.

“It’s passion and the fans and players love to see that,” he said. “When the manager and players feel the same passion as the fans it feels like a big family. We are all fighting for the same cause and outcome and it’s good.

“The last minute of the Dundee game was brilliant. Apart from that it wasn’t the best day for us, but we got the win.”

Tierney had a close relationship with Rodgers, who joined Premier League club Leicester City last month, but stressed he had enjoyed training and playing under Parkhead legend Lennon for the first time in recent weeks.

“He was just before my time,” he said. “I was maybe 14 or 15 when he was here before, but I’ve met him at different functions and occasions so I knew him personally before he became the manager. It’s been fun and exciting to work under him so far.”

 

I'm thinking beyond the summer
If you want Celtic to progress and evolve then we need a higher calibre coach.
If its too lookbackward much like the Scotland national team ( almost, nearly, not quite)vote for Lennon to stay beyond the summer.

We want an upgrade on Rodgers, to build on the momentum he had last few seasons. Rose is the only sure fire candidate who might actually take us up a level in Europe. (Martinez a distant second again only for his European experience with Belgium and players he may attract to the club).

Of course fans are thinking it's like some * Hollywood sequel where Lennon returns to have is revenge and take us to a glorious victory over evil. the bigger picture for this club...we have more money than any time in our history and we want to make progress on the european stage.

The board will be loving fans who want Lennon in beyond summer , they save a tonne of money and he won't question or push back like a Brendan Rodgers might have done...i.e. more money for the board and fans thinking with their heart not their head.

I like Lennon for what he has done and achieved and as a stop gap this season that's fine. Just want to think progressively, Lennon ran out of solutions at the end of his last stay and jumped ship to England, how can he be any different this time around?

Players of a higher callibre will join Celtic for a Rodgers (love him or hate him) or a Rose based on their past pedigree outside of Scotland.

Fans should be demanding more from the board next summer, not the cheap option/same folk as before. Why the * are we letting them save all that money for?? 10 is coming up, the spending has to be done now on a progressive coach. Fans shouldn't fall for the bait.

 

I don't see it that way. I see it as a man who has been through more in his life to be associated with Celtic and stay in Glasgow than anyone.
A man that has been successful here before, that wouldn't have left if the board backed him.
The players love him and players like Ledley and Mulgrew have said he was the best Manager they had.
We need stability to achieve ten in a row, not some gamble on a foreign manager.

talk about Martinez? He got wigan relegated and like Rodgers was too stubborn to change his tactics. We would get hammerd in Europe. He's another one that would * off at the first sniff of a job down south.

Neil might not be as tactical as someone like Rodgers but he's a much better motivater and a real Celtic man.
A manager with champions league experience that over achieved with hibs.
That got the better of self proclaimed Genius Rodgers many times.

If it wasn't for the reputation he's gained by the biased media as being some sort of thug for daring to be an out spoken Irish Catholic Celtic player/Manager, then he would have got a better job down south on his achievements here the last time.

 

Don't want martinez, I hope lenny gets it.

 

What basis have you got for saying Lennon is "a much better motivator" than Rodgers?

 

It's an opinion obviously. But it's been stated it's one of Lennons main strengths many times.

How many times have we seen a Rodgers side in big games in Europe come out and look like they don't believe they can win.
No agression or passion. Then in the interviews he would say ohhh well that's what happens it's too hard to compete.
Anderlecht, Valencia, broussia Monchengladbach at home. If we started * you knew it was ending that way. We rarely came out and played better after half time.
If Rodgers was the manager the night we played Barcelona, there is no chance we would have won. He would have came out and blamed injuries to Hooper etc.

 

I know I’ll get a lot of flak from fellow fans who think I’m too hard on Neil. No-one can ever doubt either his legacy as a player or his devotion to our club. However, I think he will be a real step back for Celtic if he gets the manager’s job. If Dermot Desmond/PeterLawell are prepared to pony up - I would rather Martinez, Rose, Ross, or Wagner than Neil.

Celtic may have had a "poor" season by the last 2 years standards but we had a 100% home record prior to Aberdeen and were improving since the turn of the year.

The match against Dundee brought back memories of so many away league performances under Neil. The team selection was clearly wrong as were the substitutions (as with the Aberdeen game). It just amazes me that so many fellow fans seem to have selective memories - they remember the Barcelona game but forget the cup defeats to Ross County, Kilmarnock, St Mirren and Hearts. When we were 3-0 down to Kilmarnock in 2011 - it was taken as read that Lennon was gone (as a large percentage of fans were calling for) - until we had the (quite fortuitous) comeback to draw.

After a poor performance, we get the “leggy” quote – they had a week off before Aberdeen and the same for Dundee. Most bottom 6 teams will “park the bus” and we can’t win 5 – 0 every week but we were turgid and the formation was wrong. Why did he play Johnston who was anonymous but lasted an hour? – Burke’s pace could have been a real weapon.

In Europe - Neil was manager for 4 seasons and we played in the Champions league twice (BR had 2 out of 3). I accept BR was naïve in Europe but Neil’s results were just generally defeats by smaller margins - there was a 6 - 1 thumping by Barcelona so it wasn't just BR!

I don't rate Gerard but I certainly think his team are capable of winning the next game if Neil picks the wrong team (along with Kennedy and Duff). I don't think that Neil can blow a 10 point lead but if he loses this one, it will certainly create a lot of nervousness.

I wouldn't argue with anyone that Neil is a real Celtic man but that doesn't make you a great manager. Was Klopp a "real Liverpool man" before he went there or Pep a lifelong Man City Fan. If we get a top manager who will give his all when he's in the job - that's all I ask.

It would be great to see Celtic do the "Treble Treble" but, if we do, I think we will stumble across the line as opposed to BR's team romping away with it. In some ways, I hope this is the case as, if the football isn't great, it might enlighten some of the fans who want Neil just because he's a real Celtic man and encourage Desmond to pony up in the summer.

 

That's cherry picking the facts. I could say Lenny has beaten Rangers while the snake has yet to do so.

 

What makes you think Rodgers team would have "romped" away with the league ? This is not 2016-17. We are further ahead now than when he left. His teams away record this year and some of the team selections was very poor. I doubt his teams would have won at Hearts, Hibs and Dundee. Finally we could lose our next game and still go into the split 13 points clear so I won't be getting too nervous.

 

Met Lenny in Glasgow airport today, I asked him where's he off to? He claimed London.....no reason to doubt him....he took a few pics with my kids and moved on......

London could mean 30/40 clubs in southern England.......that's if he's on a scouting mission.

 

Was in the sky sports studio for the northern ireland game

 

Puzzling question.
Why ask that ?

 

@ILoveTheCeltic

How does Lennon's domestic cup record as Celtic manager compare with those of previous Celtic managers?

 

As much as I love Ronny as a character I have no doubt in my mind if Lenny was allowed to have more control of the team and where we were heading we'd have been more successful. Maybe not hugely improved but definitely better especially in Europe.

 

The cup is unpredictable and in one off matches it's much easier to manipulate the outcome with honest mistakes.

You can look at areas of his transfer activity and single out the likes of Pukki and Balde or look at the big picture and take in the likes of VVD. Much like a win over an incredible Barca team gave me more joy then a cup win or finally an away CL victory and qualification for the next phase make domestic cup victories pale into insignificance.

The snake was a master at defeating his lessors while Lenny was a giant slayer.

 

Apart from the Barca win, what made him a ‘giant slayer’?