Neil Lennon talks with Chris Sutton on helping to make Virgil van Dijk a world beater
Neil Lennon is thinking back to the night Martin O’Neill and a Domino’s pizza box changed his life.
It was on February 14, 1996 and O’Neill, then manager of Championship Leicester, had rocked up at the Manchester home Lennon was renting with a friend. The 24-year-old midfielder was all set to sign for Ron Atkinson’s Coventry in the Premier League in the coming days.
Terms were agreed, including wages of £1000 per week and a £100,000 signing-on fee. So O’Neill and his assistant John Robertson had some persuading to do. ‘He was this whirlwind of energy and compliments,’ remembers the man who recently guided Celtic to their ninth consecutive Scottish Premiership title.
Neil Lennon caught up with Sportsmail columnist Chris Sutton to talk all things Celtic
‘Martin described the house as a “hovel”. That was flattering, really. But he basically sold Leicester to me. I got a brilliant vibe. Me and my mate had been living on pizzas. He picked up a box, wrote down the terms and handed it to me. It was one of those sliding doors moments. I signed for Leicester in the Championship.’
So Lennon the player was not afraid of taking the hard path to the Premier League. We may see him there as a manager someday, too, with his accomplishments in Glasgow not going unnoticed south of the border. This interview isn’t a case of the Celtic boss positioning himself in the shop window, mind.
Lennon says clinching a 10th consecutive championship and experiencing a European adventure with Celtic are his top two priorities for next season. But, if and when No 10 is won, who knows? England may beckon for this 48-year-old. Lennon is a courteous and engaging character, the type any football fan could have an enjoyable conversation with (unless you’re of a Rangers persuasion, perhaps).
Fortunately, we got him together with his old Celtic team-mate and Sportsmail columnist Chris Sutton instead. Reporter Kieran Gill listened in…
SUTTON: It’s now passed 20 years since O’Neill became Celtic manager. He clearly had an influence on you as a coach, starting with that encounter in early 1996.
LENNON: At Leicester, he did amazing things. At Celtic, he changed the landscape of the game. At Aston Villa, top six in the Premier League and a League Cup final. Ten years under Martin was the making of me. I learned a hell of a lot about the psychology of the game from him and he’s still a port of call for me because he’s walked in these shoes.
SUTTON: O’Neill and Robertson in turn learned from Brian Clough and Peter Taylor at Nottingham Forest.
LENNON: They would have been very, very similar, the way they’d sell the club and their ideas. There was nothing corporate about them. It was about emotion. It was psychological. It was about getting the best out of you. When I played under Martin, I’d run through brick walls for him. His man-management was second to none.
SUTTON: He didn’t mind dishing out the hairdryer treatment, towards me or you.
LENNON: He ripped into me a few times! When I was sent off on occasion, he made me realise it wasn’t about being the token hard man, because you were only letting yourself and your team-mates down. Very rarely over our 10 years together did we fall out but the majority of the time he was right to pull me up, either for a lack of professionalism or lack or respect.
SUTTON: Is it fair to say you’ve mellowed as a manager?
LENNON: I’m not as reactive as I was. I take more time to analyse things. I speak to the players the way they want to be spoken to. They’re a different breed now. It’s very rare you lose your temper. You get frustrated – that’s natural. But there’s no question that I’m more pensive when dealing with certain situations, like player predicaments or form. The game has evolved. It’s different to our era. You have to adapt. You never know if you’re cut out for management but I knew this was what I wanted to do. I remember talking to Mark McGhee (the former striker turned coach) towards the end of my career. I said: “Mark, I don’t know if I’m ready.” He told me: “You can never know if you’re ready. Test yourself.”
Lennon insisted that ten years playing under Martin O’Neill was the ‘making’ of him
Lennon is speaking to Sportsmail from Celtic’s training ground, though the signal is not always the best. ‘Remind me to convince the club to get you better WiFi,’ jokes Sutton. Lennon replaced Brendan Rodgers midway through the 2018-19 season when a Treble Treble was on the line. To secure it, Celtic had to win the Scottish Premiership, League Cup and Scottish Cup. Anything less than perfection would be considered a failure.
LENNON: There was huge scrutiny on myself. You don’t want to be the one to break up the dominant run and I felt that. It’s a goldfish bowl up here in Glasgow. When Brendan left for Leicester, it was the end of February. There was huge pressure.
SUTTON: You got there in the end and Celtic extended your contract.
LENNON: Then our priority became to win the nine. That’s a magical number up here because both teams had done it before.
GILL: Celtic between 1966 and 1974, under Jock Stein. Rangers between 1989 and 1997.
LENNON: We’re disappointed it was curtailed at a time when we were so dominant and playing such great football. But it was a magnificent achievement by the club, the players, everyone who has contributed to this over the decade.
SUTTON: You made history, Lenny, and a 10th title would be even more historic. Say you secure that, is there a part of you which might think you’ve achieved all you can at Celtic?
LENNON: You can’t get too far ahead of yourself. The 10 is at the forefront of all of our motivation, and Europe is a big carrot as well. Can we negotiate the Champions League qualifying rounds, get into the group stages and have a real go at that? Where I am this time next year, I don’t know. I’m sure I’ll still have plenty of fire in the belly, no matter what the outcome of next season is.
Lennon is desperate to make it 10 Scottish Premiership titles in a row at Celtic
SUTTON: Is there a part of you which wants to manage in the Premier League?
LENNON: I love Celtic and we’ve got huge motivation going into next season. We’ve got the opportunity to win a 10th title in a row. When you’re younger, you look ahead, and that’s a mistake. I want to take this team on. It is something which would appeal but I don’t know when and if that scenario will ever occur. A lot of managers in Europe would love the opportunity to manage in the Premier League. But I’m already at one of the best clubs in Europe. I’m happy with what I’ve got at the minute and I want more. I want to get better.
SUTTON: When Premier League jobs come up down south, or even Championship jobs, I don’t see your name linked. Doesn’t that make you feel under-appreciated?
LENNON: That’s a loaded question! I’m not here to put myself out there to attract other clubs. I’m here to make Celtic and myself better. Sometimes the Scottish game gets a little downplayed but in last year’s Champions League final, we had Andy Robertson, Virgil van Dijk, Victor Wanyama.
SUTTON: Steven Gerrard gets linked with jobs.
LENNON: It doesn’t bother me. Steven’s done a very good job at Rangers and he’s got a great profile. I just go about getting on with things here… Sometimes, speculation can be very unsettling for a manager. It can make you take your eye off the ball. I’m quite happy, really happy, with what I’m doing at Celtic. If there’s speculation surrounding me, it’s not welcome at the moment.
Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson starred in last year’s Champions League final
Celtic’s last outing before the season’s curtailment saw them beat St Mirren 5-0 in front of 58,998 fans on March 7. They were then confirmed champions on points per game on May 18. ‘Fully deserved,’ says Lennon. Celtic’s players have now returned for training ahead of the start of the new season. But during the downtime, Lennon has got his competitive football fix by taking in the Bundesliga, and he will watch the Premier League.
LENNON: There’s that main ingredient missing – the supporters. But I’ve enjoyed the games. They’ve shown it can be done. Sometimes you look on a little enviously because you want to be back working. You want to be taking part in games, in whatever shape or form that may be.
SUTTON: Celtic were crowned champions on points per game. But you’re suggesting you’re envious that other leagues get to play on?
LENNON: I’d love to have the players and the games back. We’ll be looking on with a little bit of envy.
SUTTON: I can understand why you would have rather won it inside of a stadium, together and ideally in front of fans, than by text or a phone call. If the Premier League season has to be halted a second time because of coronavirus then, like Celtic, Liverpool will probably be crowned champions on PPG, too. Would that be the right call?
LENNON: You cannot deny Liverpool the title. They’ve been the best team in the country by a considerable distance. But the Premier League seem confident. They’ve got the resources and the will to do it.
SUTTON: Either way, we should see Van Dijk lifting that trophy soon enough. Talk to me about him. You signed him for Celtic in 2013 – for £2.6million! What did you think of him initially?
Lennon sung the praises of Dutch centre back Van Dijk, who he worked with at Celtic
LENNON: He was Rio Ferdinand in the making. He had all of those attributes – he was quick, composed, brilliant in the air in both boxes. Everything you’re seeing now, at Premier League and European level, that’s what I saw. I couldn’t believe there was no English interest. I also couldn’t believe he was at Celtic for two seasons! I thought he might have gone after the first.
SUTTON: Are you envious of the English riches? Imagine if you kept hold of these players!
LENNON: It would be nice to be able to compete with them. I wouldn’t say ‘envious’. I like finding players under the radar. Van Dijk is the standout example. He goes for £12m to Southampton, then £75m to Liverpool, and now he’s probably the best centre half in the world. We take pride in that. We take pride in Kieran Tierney going to Arsenal for £25m. There is a lot of untapped natural talent here. Ideally you’d love to hold on to these players because then we’d have a strong chance of achieving something in Europe.
SUTTON: There was a debate about Celtic becoming part of the Premier League, then they’d get the TV money and might stand a chance of holding on to these big names.
LENNON: This is an age-old debate. Celtic in England would be massive. Every home game we get 59,000, so it would be one of the best-supported clubs. With the TV money and revenue coming in, they would be a very powerful force in England. But we’re a million miles away from that. It was a policy put in front of Premier League chairmen years ago and every one of them voted against it.
SUTTON: They’re obviously running scared! Lenny, thanks for taking the time to talk. Congratulations on the ninth title again. Have you even had time to reflect on that achievement amid all this?
LENNON: Given what’s happening, we’ve had plenty of time to do that! To be here as a manager sitting on nine in a row, it’s a fantastic feeling. It means everything to me. But now we want the 10.
