Lennon not ready to leave first love Celtic
For while the Armagh man’s success in the last two seasons has now seen him being linked with jobs in the Premier League and Championship, there was a period early on at Parkhead when his position came under pressure.
That Celtic’s Irish owner Dermot Desmond stuck with the rookie caretaker boss at the end of the 2010 season — during which defeat to Ross County in the Scottish Cup marked the low point — was brave but ultimately wise.
Under Lennon’s stewardship, Celtic have since regained their status as the Scotland’s standard bearers from Rangers. Not only domestically but in Europe, as their voyage to the last 16 of last season’s Champions League proved.
As with his players, Celtic’s feat has attracted admirers of the manager south of the border, with Wigan and his former club Leicester City among those understood to be keen on the 41-year-old.
“I’ve not had any offers of other jobs, but there’s plenty more for me to achieve at Celtic,” he said.
“I’m in a very precious position at Celtic in that I’ve a stable job. We’ve seen the merry-go-round of managers elsewhere, but I’ve got to pay tribute to Mr Desmond and [chief executive] Peter Lawwell for the support they’ve shown me. There were times when they could have easily turned the other way.
“People outside of Scotland and Ireland underestimate the strength of Celtic as a club and the impact it has on the players.
“Some of the big players who played with me at Celtic like Chris Sutton and Stiliyan Petrov said they never felt the same after leaving Celtic. Even Craig Bellamy talks about it in his autobiography which is just out. There’s an edge that goes with playing for Celtic — and players never lose that.”
Now that Lennon has reaffirmed his commitment to Celtic, his next aim is retaining his title-winning squad and strengthening with a few summer recruits.
By the time he lands into the Aviva Stadium on August 10 for the Dublin Decider friendly against Liverpool, which he helped launch yesterday, the Lurgan man hopes to be preparing for the last play-off round back into the Champions League group stage.
Extra income accrued from last season’s European odyssey, worth an estimated €40million from prize money and television deals, affords Lennon the luxury of shopping on the bigger markets this summer.
He wants an Irish dimension to his squad too, with the re-signing of Anthony Stokes a priority — along with one or two compatriots if possible.
Lennon said: “Missing all our Champions League run with a serious ankle injury certainly hurt Anthony. However, he returned to have a strong end of season and gave a magnificent performance in the Scottish Cup final win over Hibernian.
“He’s out of contract right now. We’re in negotiations on a new deal but I’m pretty sure he’ll be with us next season.
“Kevin Doyle is a player we wanted on loan in January, but it just didn’t work out. He wasn’t having a great time at Wolves then and I felt a move to us for a few months would re-energise him and give him a zest for football again. Whether we go again for him is something we’ll have to decide later on.”
Ireland defender Richard Dunne, at 33, doesn’t fit into Celtic’s recruitment strategy, according to the manager, although long-term target and now free agent Sean St Ledger may do.
“We haven’t pushed the button on any transfer targets yet, or had any bids received for our players,” he said.
Sooner or later, it seems, Desmond will be the one fielding bids for his biggest asset.
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