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Celtic appoint Neil Lennon as Manager until the end of the season
By: Newsroom Staff on 26 Feb, 2019 19:05
http://www.celticfc.net/news/15816• CELTIC Football Club announced today that Neil Lennon has been named Celtic manager until the end of the season. Neil has already enjoyed a hugely successful spell as manager of Celtic and, of course, served the Club with distinction as player and captain over so many years.
Neil will be joined by John Kennedy as assistant manager and Damien Duff as first team coach. Neil will take up his role immediately and will be in charge of the team for the trip to Tynecastle tomorrow (Wednesday) against Heart of Midlothian.
Neil Lennon joined Celtic in December 2000 when Martin O’Neill brought him to Paradise from Leicester City, and he made his debut for the Hoops at Dens Park on December 10, helping his new team to a 2-1 win over Dundee.
Over the next seven years, he would go on to make a total of 304 appearances for the club, scoring three goals and establishing himself as a Celtic legend.
In that time, he won five league titles, four Scottish Cups and two League Cups, and was part of the treble-winning side of 2000/01. He was an integral part of the squad that reached the UEFA Cup final in 2003, and he took over the captain’s armband in 2005.
After finishing his playing career following spells with Nottingham Forest and Wycombe Wanderers, Neil returned to Celtic, initially as part of the first-team coaching staff and then taking charge of the reserves.
Following Tony Mowbray’s departure as manager in March 2010, Neil stepped in as caretaker manager before he was confirmed in the role at the end of that season. Over the next four years he won three league titles – the first three in the current seven-in-a-row run – as well as two Scottish Cups.
In Europe, he guided the club to the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League in the 2012/13 season, recording a famous 2-1 victory over Barcelona at Paradise along the way, the night after the club celebrated its 125th anniversary.
Most recently, he enjoyed a spell as manager of Hibernian, securing promotion back to the Premiership and guiding them to fourth in the league last season.
Neil Lennon said: “I am absolutely delighted to be named manager of Celtic again. This is a Club which has been such a huge part of my life already and it is an honour to be asked to return.
“I have given everything to Celtic as a player and manager already in my career and I am ready to do the same again. I will be doing all I can to continue the great work that has gone on in recent years.
“I am delighted that John Kennedy and Damien Duff have agreed to be part of my team. John will allow us to have important continuity and Damien will bring real knowledge and experience to the first team squad.
“I am returning to one of the biggest and best clubs in world football and I can’t wait to get started.”
Celtic Chief Executive Peter Lawwell said: “We are pleased to be able to announce Neil’s return to Celtic. In bringing Neil back to the Club until the end of the season, we have appointed a man who knows what it means to be Celtic manager and someone who knows how to win.
“We know he has the commitment and desire needed to face the challenges ahead. We are delighted to also promote John Kennedy to assistant manager and bring Damien Duff into our first-team management group. This will bring vital continuity and allow us to build on Brendan’s legacy.
“The Club is in a great position on and off the field, and with Neil, John and Damien leading the first team, I am sure we can continue our success.”
Celtic Chairman Ian Bankier added: “We are delighted to welcome Neil back to the Club and we are sure he, John Kennedy and Damien Duff will form an excellent team to drive us on across the rest of this season.
“Neil knows all there is to know about Celtic, he is a top-class coach and we are sure his knowledge, experience, drive and determination will be very important qualities to us going forward.”
Neil Lennon: I want to win more trophies with stellar Celtic squad
By: Joe Donnelly on 27 Feb, 2019 09:31
http://www.celticfc.net/news/15818• UPON his return to Paradise, Neil Lennon has praised the squad he has inherited, but emphasised that he and his players cannot and will never take success for granted in their pursuit of more silverware.
Having already secured this season’s League Cup, the Hoops now aim to defend both the Scottish Cup and the Premiership title. The manager said that he re-joins the Scottish champions more experienced, and is keen to lean on prominent club figures such as John Kennedy to ensure a smooth and swift transitionary period.
“It’s a stellar squad, and since the turn of the year they’ve been magnificent,” said Neil Lennon in an exclusive interview with Celtic TV. “They’ve put in performance after performance, and I thought they were so unlucky in Valencia as well.
“For 40 minutes, they put in an outstanding European performance that was only spoiled by a really poor refereeing decision. They’re on great form, and I don’t want this disrupting that flow. The players have a job to do and they know what’s at stake.
“Coming in, I obviously know the club, but I’ve been away for four or five years, so I don’t necessarily know the machinations of the way things are right now. I already know some of the players, and obviously want to get to know the ones I’m less familiar with. But a few days, that’s all I need. Maybe the players will need a few days to adjust to me, too, but there won’t be sweeping changes, that’s for sure.”
Having left the club as manager in 2014 after three successful years, Neil Lennon said he’s grateful the club has again showed confidence in him, and he hopes to repay that faith from the outset.
Neil Lennon continued: “When an opportunity like this comes knocking you can’t say no. There are tough games ahead, and it’s the business end of the season. Looking at the mentality of the players, they look really focused. The situation has scope to disrupt them a little, but I’ve got to manage that for them and make sure that they stay fully-focused.”
Neil Lennon: I will do all I can to bring more success to this club
By: Joe Donnelly on 26 Feb, 2019 19:31
http://www.celticfc.net/news/15817
• NEIL Lennon says he’s immensely proud to return as Celtic manager, and he will do everything in his power to bring more success to the club which is so close to his heart.
The new Hoops boss acknowledged the circumstances in which he re-enters Paradise, but stressed his desire to replicate the success the Scottish champions have enjoyed in recent years as well as during his last spell as Celtic manager.
In an exclusive interview with Celtic TV, Neil Lennon said: “I feel a wide range of emotions, and the first one is obviously pride. I’ve got the privilege of doing this job again, and I’ve obviously got a huge amount of gratitude for the club taking a leap of faith in me once more.
“It’s difficult circumstances. There’s a chasm to fill with Brendan leaving. He’s done a remarkable job, but I’m here for the club. The club comes first as do the players. I want to bring as much success during my time here as I possibly can.
“There’re always huge expectations at this club and the players have been absolutely exceptional over the last two-and-a-half to three years, with the level of performance, and the trophy haul as well.
“All I want to do is carry that on – it’s not broken and I’m not coming in and looking to revolutionise anything. I’ll lean on John Kennedy a lot he’s been with Brendan for these last two-and-a-half-years and he knows how it works, the system and the routine. I’ll tap into that a lot.”
Neil Lennon made 304 appearances as a Celtic player, and enjoyed a successful spell as manager between 2010 and 2014, securing the first three league titles of the Hoops’ current seven-in-a-row run.
To this end, the new Celtic manager has a thorough understanding of the club and its history, but stressed his arrival isn’t about individuals and is instead about bringing yet more trophies to Paradise.
He added: “It’s not about me coming back, it’s not about Brendan leaving. It’s about Celtic winning the league and hopefully winning another cup as well.
“I just want to say that I will do all that I can to bring success to the football club, and try to produce the style of football that the supporters are accustomed to under the previous manager.”
Neil Lennon: Celtic return brings reunion with old friends, trepidation and thrills
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47396739
By Tom English
BBC Scotland
4 hours ago From the section Celtic
Highlights: Heart of Midlothian 1-2 Celtic
The God of Scottish football giveth and giveth and giveth again. His fondness for the bonkers is truly bountiful. His appetite for the surreal is inexhaustible.
There Neil Lennon stood, minutes into injury time against Hearts on Wednesday, flapping his arms madly, waving his new team forward in pursuit of a winner against a side whose energy tanks were emptying but whose spirit never did.
A draw would have been no disaster for Lennon, but it would have been deflating, it would have opened the door to Rangers, who were doing Dundee in cold blood at Ibrox. An eight-point gap was about to become a six-point gap. The phrase ‘title race’ was beginning to drift back into the mind. The thought that ‘Brendan Rodgers would have won this’ was not far away.
And then, drama. In all honesty, given what has happened in these madcap last few days, we should almost have expected it all to be rounded off in the most thunderous way. Odsonne Edouard’s goal was met with the kind of noise that might have carried all the way to Leicester, where Rodgers now resides.
Winners are always riotously celebrated in games like this, but there was almost an extra euphoria when Edouard scored. Those Celtic fans would have been rejoicing for many reasons, but Rodgers and an answer to what some of them – many of them – see as his betrayal of their club would have been part of it.
Butterflies & banners
In the beginning, before the hubbub and hoopla, Lennon might have felt like some scientific experiment being observed, sitting, as he was, in the away dugout before kick-off with a dozen orange-bibbed photographers looking at him, a battalion of yellow-vested stewards surrounding him, every reporter in the place watching his every move and every Celtic fan chanting his name.
Re-enter the hero, to the very place that caused him such trauma in the autumn, on a night when the words ‘Hang Neil Lennon’ were daubed on a wall outside Tynecastle, a night when Lennon, as Hibs manager, was not just hit by a coin but was also the target of sectarian – or as he called it “racist” – chanting.
Lennon was back with just enough time to get the N and the L embroidered on his coat. The stock phrase in these cases is ‘you couldn’t make it up’ – but you could. In this country? Absolutely, you could.
He admitted to having butterflies before this game. He said he had big shoes to fill in replacing Rodgers. The visitors packed behind one goal might have begged to differ on that one. Edouard’s moment at the end gave them all a chance to celebrate and mock – ‘Brendan Who?’.
‘Never a Celt. Always a fraud’ – Celtic fans unveil Rodgers banner
Would Rodgers have been watching this? Who’s to say. The man appears to have undergone a personality transplant in the last few days, from an undying Celt to a sly old Fox prepared to “give his life” for his new club Leicester City, so it’s hard to know whether the manager formerly known as Saint Brendan would have tuned in.
Watching or not, there was a message for him in any case. Not a tifo as such. Not one of those spectaculars that tend to get unveiled by the Celtic support on some of the bigger days and nights. No, this is more basic but no less heartfelt, a riot of indignation and hurt.
“You Traded Immortality For Mediocrity. Never A Celt. Always A Fraud”.
Heartfelt for sure. Indignant, unquestionably. In taking the moral high ground in the business of their former manager, some visiting supporters then belted out a few tunes about the IRA. Lennon, no doubt, would have wished they hadn’t bothered. On his first night back, they might have given it a rest.
‘No room for a twist, right..? Wrong’
This was always going to be an enormous night for Lennon and it became all the more significant when news started to come through from Ibrox that Rangers were taking Dundee to the cleaners. A goal, then another, then another. Three points already secured and just 23 minutes played. A little reminder to Celtic folk that Rangers haven’t gone away just yet.
When Hearts are in the mood they can be a nightmare to play against. Frenzied and physical. Swarming all over you like there’s no tomorrow. They had Lennon looking on quietly and nervously early on. Sean Clare, the double-handful that was Uche Ikpeazu, and Steven Naismith all went close.
‘I felt like I could fly’ – Lennon lifted by Celtic’s late winner
At one point, after some anxiety at the back, Lennon turned to his own dugout and mouthed: “You can’t defend like that”. Celtic were not themselves. Hearts wouldn’t allow it. Until they did. On the counter-attack, Celtic scored.
When James Forrest applied the finish, it was the final flourish of a goal that showed Celtic at their best on a night when they rarely hit that mark. The feeling that the new/old manager was going to get off to a flier only hardened when Jamie Brandon went elbow-first into Jeremy Toljan and got sent-off. A one-goal lead, a one-man advantage and Naismith the Hearts talisman injured and unavailable for the second half? No room for a twist now, right?
Wrong. Rodgers was not here in body, but there was a little bit of him here in the addled mind of his former goalkeeper. Scott Bain dallied on the ball. Caught in the parallel universe of Rodgers’ slavish adherence to playing out from the back and Lennon’s more pragmatic style, he gave a pass he shouldn’t have given to Kristoffer Ajer, who lost control and brought down Arnaud Djoum.
Penalty. Goal. Tynecastle in raptures. Craig Levein said later that experience has told him to never count his chickens when defending a point against Celtic, but he was counting them none the less. Hearts had been excellent, but the force of the visitors’ will nailed them in the end.
Lennon said he wasn’t happy with a lot of what he saw from his team. “Poor,” he said. “Ponderous. Sloppy for the goal. Made life difficult for ourselves.” Then he breathed a sigh, spoke of his relief and joy, and said that when Edouard scored he felt so high he thought he could fly.
On Sunday, he takes his new club back to his old club for a Scottish Cup tie at Easter Road. “A bit of trepidation,” said Lennon about the prospect. Trepidation and thrills. Lennon revels in days like these.
‘I’m not as volatile’ – Neil Lennon says he has mellowed since his first stint in charge of Celtic
https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/im-not-as-volatile-neil-lennon-says-he-has-mellowed-since-his-first-stint-in-charge-of-celtic-37860444.htmlFebruary 27 2019 11:05 AM
Neil Lennon admits he has big shoes to fill after taking over from Brendan Rodgers at Celtic.
Lennon, who won three league titles and two Scottish Cups in just over four years in a previous stint as Hoops boss, is back in charge for the rest of the season following Rodgers’ sudden departure to Leicester.
Lennon now has the chance to guide Celtic to a third consecutive treble – they are eight points clear of Rangers with the Betfred Cup already in the trophy room and with a William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-final against Hibernian, whom Lennon left in January, to come at Easter Road on Saturday.
“It was a no-brainer, I’m very grateful to be here. The board have put their faith in me to see out the season,” he said.
“The most important thing is the club. They’ve lost a manager who will go down as one of the greats. I’ve got big shoes to fill.
“The team’s been unbelievable under Brendan. When I took over the last time the club was in a very different position.”
Lennon says he has mellowed since his first spell in charge at Parkhead.
“I’m not as volatile I don’t think. I wanted to take on the world when I first took over,” he added.
“I think you learn from that, but I’ve still got that energy and that will to win. That will always be with me.
“I don’t want to be compared with Brendan, I know some people will do that. Brendan has his way and it’s been fantastic, and I have my way.”
Asked whether he wanted the role beyond the end of the season, Lennon said: “It’s not up to me. I’m not even thinking about that, the club comes first. It’s about the club and the players.
“This is a club decision and come the summer it will be another club decision, what the board think is best for the club going forward.
“These opportunities come round once in a lifetime, and it’s come round twice in a lifetime for me.”
9 in a row… Champions for a reason
http://www.celticfc.net/news/18100
By: Newsroom Staff on 18 May, 2020 12:45
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It is with great pleasure that I am writing to you to thank you for all you have done in bringing home 9 in a row!
Thank you for everything.
The passion, commitment and energy you bring to Celtic always gives us strength and it is these qualities which have been crucial in once again allowing us to deliver when it mattered. You are the best around and once again you, along with my players, my backroom team, indeed everyone at the club… have been the difference.
Together we have shown that we are a powerful force and once again the best team in the country.
It has also been an honour to work with such a special group of players, a squad crammed with talent, spirit, strength and resilience. I love these players – players who do their talking on the pitch and pride themselves in their professionalism. Led by a captain of the highest quality, these players are relentless in achieving their objectives – and they do it all for you, our great supporters.
As manager of this great club it has been an honour to deliver your 9th successive title win. I could not have done this without John Kennedy and Damien Duff and thank both of them for their support.
I returned to Celtic to win. In the tradition of our club I wanted to bring you positive, exciting football, to give you goals, an attacking, dynamic style of play which produced results. As a group we like to think we achieved that already and in this season in particular.
We would have loved to play out the season in front of you, it is what we all wanted. We were desperate to continue the blistering form we were in when the season was suspended. However, do not in any way let this detract from our achievement. While many will seek to challenge us, the title is ours and we deserve it. We are indeed champions for a reason.
Scottish football, like society in general has gone through a tough time in recent months. We have stayed strong as a club, remaining focused, acting professionally and with thought at all times for others.
Of course, life has become very different and while we congratulate each other as supporters and celebrate our achievement, we can’t help but think of those people who continue to experience difficulty.
Many of you will have had families directly affected by this crisis, many of you will be key workers, striving on a daily basis to keep us safe and many of you will have experienced challenges around employment and family life.
So as everyone at the Club rightly celebrates our achievement, we also pay tribute to you all and remember the difficulties which so many people continue to face.
Thank you once again for all your brilliant support.
You will forever be part of 9 in a row.
Love and best wishes to you and your family
Neil Lennon
Football Manager
Celtic Football Club Statement: Neil Lennon resigns
By Celtic Football ClubShare Celtic Football Club today announced that Neil Lennon has resigned from his position as football manager with immediate effect.Neil has served the club with distinction as both player and manager, delivering numerous successes, most recently completing the Domestic Treble in December. In his second period as Celtic manager, he has achieved five trophy successes, to add to his three League titles and two Scottish Cup victories in his first period as manager.Current assistant manager, John Kennedy, will take interim charge of the team.Neil Lennon said: “We have experienced a difficult season due to so many factors and, of course, it is very frustrating and disappointing that we have not been able to hit the same heights as we did previously.“I have worked as hard as ever to try and turn things around, but unfortunately we have not managed to get the kind of run going that we have needed.”I have always given my best to the Club and have been proud to deliver silverware to the Celtic supporters. The Club will always be part of me. I will always be a Celtic supporter myself and I will always want the best for Celtic.“I would like to thank so many people at the Club who have given me so much and I would also like to thank my family for their love and support. I wish the Celtic supporters, players, staff and directors nothing but success for the future.”Celtic Chief Executive Peter Lawwell added: “I would like to pay tribute to Neil for all he has done for the Club in his second spell, delivering our eighth and ninth successive league titles, the Quadruple Treble and winning the last five available domestic trophies.“Neil has always been and will always be a true Celtic man and someone I will always hold in the highest regard. “I have watched Neil fight many battles over many years, on and off the field, with a courage and tenacity few could match. Even this season, he has fought so hard and worked tirelessly to turn things around.“While this season has not progressed as we would have liked, it cannot diminish the character or integrity of a man who has given the Club so much.“Personally, it is a sad day for me to see Neil leave the Club. Neil is a man of quality and decency, he is someone who will always be part of the fabric of Celtic and someone who will always be welcomed at Celtic Park.“On behalf of everyone at the club, and personally, I would like to thank Neil for his work as our manager and I wish him and his family good health and continued success in everything they do.”Celtic’s principal shareholder Dermot Desmond commented: “Neil is a Celtic legend both as a player and manager. He has given so much to the Club, and with his success over the last number of years – including winning a Treble in his own right – he will be very difficult to replace.“We thank Neil sincerely for all he has done for the club and we wish him every success going forward.”
Neil Lennon blasts Celtic fans
June 2021
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/neil-lennon-blasts-celtic-fans-24254543
Neil Lennon blasts Celtic fans ‘giving club a bad name’ as he insists he’s no managerial dinosaur
The Irishman admits he was hurt by the furious scenes which accompanied the death of the 10 In A Row dream.
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ByGabriel McKayDigital journalist
08:45, 5 JUN 2021Updated12:11, 6 JUN 2021
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Former Celtic manager Neil Lennon admits his final season was “joyless” as he hit out at at a “new breed” of fan who protested furiously.
The season started with the Parkhead club going for 10 Premiership titles in a row but the season quickly went off the rails.
Celtic’s domestic dominance was ended by a meek League Cup defeat to Ross County, sparking angry protests outside the stadium.
Lennon remained in situ until February but walked away after another defeat to the Staggies and Rangers officially wrapped up the title just weeks later.
Things had turned toxic by the end of the Irishman’s tenure and he admits being hurt and confused by supporter anger.
Neil Lennon looks dejected
Neil Lennon looks dejected (Image: PA)
Lennon told The Times: “Speaking to the players the next day (after the League Cup loss) they were really disturbed and upset by that.
“Literally upset by it. That was the first cup defeat in 35/36 games. It was the end of an unbelievable cycle of success and for them to be treated that way was bewildering. They should have been lauded for it rather than abused.
“They were getting pelted with missiles. It was very sad. There was a new breed of supporters that I had nothing in common with and who belie the values of the club.
“They are the ones that are giving the club a bad name.
“It was definitely a situation like no other. You’re going for the tenth title in a row and that was an obsession for the fans, an unhealthy obsession I felt. And we were in the midst of a pandemic where nothing was normal.
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“So you put that together and there were a lot of things that were out of your control as a manager.
“I had nothing in common with those supporters and the way they treated Dermot and Peter as well, shocking.
“Considering in December we had just finished off another treble, two months later you are out the door.
“The whole thing seemed joyless. There was no credit it for it. It was just ‘yeah Celtic have won another treble, move on’. There was a lack of joy around the place and that was really difficult.
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“You are in the game to enjoy it. It was all about the football but this season football took second place to a lot of things.
“I wouldn’t say I was hurt, I was more bewildered by it and the lack of time and the lack of faith that people showed in me.
“It’s basically fans I’m referring to more than anything else.
“I can walk away with 21 medals as a player and a manager, the first guy to do the treble as both a player and a manager. If that doesn’t mean a lot to other people, it means a lot to me.”
Neil Lennon during his time as Celtic manager (Image: Getty Images)
Some have suggested that Lennon is a man out of time, with old school methods not suited to the modern game.
But the Celtic legend insists nothing could be further from the truth as he offered a vigorous defence of his record.
Lennon said: “People say ‘he’s not that good’ or ‘he’s a dinosaur’. A dinosaur at 49 is strange. Eighteen months ago I beat Lazio in Rome, the first Celtic manager to do that.
“It’s about changing the public’s perception but then again it’s not really their perception I want to change it’s the owner, chairman or chief executive of a club.
“Does it grate on me? Of course it does. It’s just absolute nonsense. I’d just won a treble so if I’m a dinosaur what does that make all the rest? It’s not like we played route one football.
“We were flexible with changes, we could play a diamond or a back three or 4-3-3, I had young coaches like John Kennedy, Damien Duff and Gavin Strachan who were very forward thinking and our coaching methods were all geared for the modern player.
“It’s just a throwaway remark that is just completely untrue. Young dinosaur! T-Rex!”