Neil Lennon is hoping that his best years in management are still to come.
It wasn’t quite on a par with his 2011 pledge of ‘This isn’t the end, it’s only the beginning’ but there was a certain nod in that direction as he reflected on the 10th anniversary of being appointed Celtic manager.
Five title wins either side of stints at Hibs and Bolton have given Lennon an incredible education in management with Celtic 2020 barely recognisable from the club he took charge of from Tony Mowbray.
Ahead of a potentially historic season Lennon is overseeing a highly unlikely set of circumstances as players return to training individually, Celtic Park will be empty the next time that the team plays a match with the 2020 transfer window likely to be a mystery.
Against that backdrop Lennon has his own goals and ambitions as he told The Sun:
I’m hoping the best years of management are in front of me. I’ve had ten years so far. I came into management very early on and it’s amazing to think it’s 20 years since Martin came.
If I could have similar successes to Martin I’d be absolutely delighted. He had such an impact on Celtic and it’s still there now 20 years on.
I had five years with him at Leicester too, where he was fantastic for me and the club and he did the exact same things when he came to Celtic. If in this second period I can have a similar impact on the club and the game here I’d be absolutely thrilled.
At the end of this week Lennon will find out Celtic’s qualification route into the Champions League following a two day UEFA summit to work out the 2019/20 calendar.