Lennon: Players deserve all the praise not me

Neil Lennon’s reputation has soared after leading Celtic into the Champions League for the second successive season.

The financial spin-offs from that for the club made for an upbeat AGM on Friday morning.

Chief Executive Peter Lawwell spoke of the greater challenges ahead while chairman Ian Bankier stated: “I think the momentum that we have built over the last three to five years is powerful.”

Lennon has been in the Parkhead hot-seat since June, 2010. But rather than reflect on what he has achieved himself, he’s happier watching his signings flourish under his management.

The Irishman has managed to bank the club millions from competing in Europe and selling on his top players for huge profits.

His achievements, of course, haven’t gone unnoticed south of the border, and he has been linked with the then vacant posts at both Sunderland and Everton.

Rather than enjoy all the plaudits coming his way, Lennon says it’s his players who deserve the praise for rising to the challenge.

“That’s been one of the most satisfying aspects of the job,” said Lennon. “I’m able to look around the dressing-room and see players who have all come here and improved.

“Charlie Mulgrew came back to the club on a free transfer from Aberdeen and look at how far he has come since then. He has now become an extremely important player for Scotland on the international stage.

“Mikel Lustig has come on leaps and bounds since he first joined us, and the same goes for Adam Matthews, who we signed on a Bosman. They are players who are now worth a lot of money.

“Look at where Fraser Forster is now in comparison to when he first joined us from Newcastle United. He was third-choice down there yet he is very much knocking on the door to play for England in the World Cup.

“And no-one can tell me Georgios Samaras hasn’t performed to a much higher level, as has Scott Brown.

“It’s the same for all of the lads, though. I’ve mentioned a handful but I could go through just about the entire squad.

“As a manager, you want to develop your players and make them better. I think we have certainly achieved that.”

Despite his reluctance to talk himself up, there can be no disputing Lennon has made great strides himself as a manager.

It’s been estimated Lennon has banked Celtic somewhere in the region of £60million over the last two seasons between Champions League earnings and player sales which has put the club in a healthy position financially.

The 42-year-old might still be considered a young manager, but the experience he has amassed at Celtic Park has been invaluable.

“You get better with experience everyone does,” said Lennon. “You are always learning and, in that sense, I’ve learned so much from going up against experienced coaches in the Champions League.

“To qualify last season was massive for the football club. To then reach the last 16, and beat Barcelona at Celtic Park in the process, was unbelievable.

“But to manage to do it again this season, when we’d lost the spine of the team, was an even greater achievement in my opinion. It was a huge effort.

“Everyone knows the Champions League is worth so much money nowadays, but just in the playing sense it’s great to be competing at that level again.

“If you are asking me do I believe I’m a better manager now than when I first took over at Celtic, then obviously the answer is yes.”

One thing Lennon hasn’t managed to master yet is how to switch off at the end of the key matches.

“That can be difficult,” he laughed. “For example, when we defeated Ajax at home, I found myself sitting in my living room at 4am watching the game again.

“It wasn’t the first time I’ve gone home after a match and watched the entire game again on TV.

“Sometimes it can be difficult to go home and go to sleep because the adrenaline is still pumping.

“But I also like to go over things while it is still fresh in my mind before I get up and go into the training ground the following morning.”

Celtic are undefeated at the top of the Premiership and still have an outside chance of reaching the Champions League last 16 for the second year running.

Lennon is, however, reluctant to put pressure on his players to achieve such a target but he is pleased with how they’ve performed this season.

He said: “You’ve got to remember we lost the spine of last season’s team with Gary Hooper, Victor Wanyama and Kelvin Wilson all leaving.

“They were three massive players for us, especially in Europe. They weren’t Champions League players when they arrived here. They all tasted that for the first time at Celtic and what we are hoping for now is the existing players can grow into the competition the same way those guys did.

“However, we are in an extremely difficult group, there is no doubt about that.

“Barcelona have set the standards for every top European club in recent times, and they remain one of the best teams in world football. It wouldn’t surprise many if they won the competition again this season.

“AC Milan are a still a strong side and Ajax are a good team as well. So it was a very difficult group section when you look at some of the other group sections in the competition.

“Losing over in Holland was disappointing, but we have two games left and we’ll see how we go. We’ll certainly be giving it our best shot.”