NEIL LENNON- Ten years at Celtic

The new bhoy

Ten years ago Martin O’Neill was preparing to bring Neil Lennon to Celtic- the £6.2m fee remains a club record and looks unlikely to be challenged for some time.

On 8 December 2000 Lennon was unveiled as a Celtic player and made his debut two days later in a 2-1 win over Dundee at Dens Park.

There’s barely been a dull moment since with the Lurgan bhoy at the centre of attention for a variety of reasons.

From the moment that Martin O’Neill moved to Celtic Lennon was expected to follow him but having reluctantly lost John Robertson and Steve Walford the Filbert Street directors were determined to hold on to Lennon.

Eventually a £6.2m fee allowed the blond haired midfielder’s transfer to go through and Lenny has rarely been out of the spotlight since with only an eight month stint at Nottingham Forest and Wycombe Wanderers spent away from Celtic Park.

As player, captain, coach and manager Lennon has spent a decade in the frontline alongside some of the biggest names in Celtic’s history.

No player has played in more Champions League matches for Celtic with his time at the club covering some epic highs.

The Celtic dressing room a decade ago already contained the guts of the team that was to take the club and supporters to a domestic treble, regular Champions League football and the never to be forgotten drama of Seville.

O’Neill had already brought in Chris Sutton, Joos Valgaeren and Alan Thompson. Stan Petrov was unrecognisable from the player signed by John Barnes, Lubo Moravcik had the platform he deserved and the recently un-dreadlocked Henrik Larsson had picked up where he left off before his leg break.

Tom Boyd, Jackie McNamara and Paul Lambert had lived through stopping ten-in-a-row with the signing of Lennon bringing back some memories for the club captain.

“I’d known him when he’d been at Motherwell for a spell,” Boyd admitted. “It’s hard to forget Neil- he’s a very distinctive character for a number of reasons.

“When I saw his name again playing for Crewe under Dario Gradi I kept an eye out for him and was pleased to see him again at Celtic.

“He made his impact on the club from day one, normally others take a bit of time but from his first game up at Dundee his competitive nature came through.

“Martin had already made some big signings as soon as he arrived with Chris Sutton, Joos Valgaeren and Alan Thompson coming in.

“They brought a good influence on the team and everyone had total trust in his signings when he brought in Neil.

“Even in training Neil demanded the best from everybody and he wasn’t slow to let people know that.

“Without doubt that was the best Celtic team that I played in. Spending over £6m on a midfielder showed the confidence that Martin had in Neil.

“The system that Martin favoured with three at the back and a midfield five required extra security from midfield. The two wing-backs were very attack minded, there was Bobby Petta, Didier Agathe and Jackie McNamara who all liked to get forward and in Neil there was someone to balance that.

“Basically it was Neil, Paul Lambert and Stilian Petrov that made up the midfield, that allowed the wing-backs to attack and they did that exceptionally well.”

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Within six months Lennon had picked up all three domestic Scottish trophies and played in Celtic teams that had beaten Rangers at Hampden, Celtic Park and Ibrox.

The following season kicked off with an aggregate win over Ajax to secure Champions League football but it was the derby clashes with Rangers that were to define Lennon.

The bigots may have driven him out of international football because of his transfer but if anything his resolve as a Celtic player was strengthened as the SPL title was retained.

Seven years of playing success ended at Hampden in May 2007 when Joe Doumbe’s goal against Dunfermline allowed Lennon to pick up his 11^th major honour as a Celtic player.

Five championships, four Scottish Cups and two League Cup winners medals were packed off as Lennon headed back to the Midlands to join Nottingham Forest.

A brief spell under Paul Lambert at Wycombe ended with a phone call to rejoin Gordon Strachan’s coaching team as Tommy Burns fought against cancer.

No one celebrated more than Lennon at Tannadice as Celtic came from behind despite the SPL extending the season to accommodate Rangers UEFA Cup run- a move that may have helped Lennon to a hat-trick of championships in 2003.

In June of this year, after a spell as caretaker boss, Lennon was confirmed as Celtic manager and a new chapter was underway in the Lenny story.

“It wasn’t any surprise that he went on to become Celtic manager,” Boyd added. “He has the nature for the job, obviously the Celtic job came along quickly but he’s acquitted himself very well and is learning in the job.”

Ten years of Lennon and Celtic have certainly proved to be dramatic- the next six months promises to be just as addictive.

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