Neil Lennon has been given perhaps his best accolade yet, Manager of the Year by Sky Sport. For a small country like Scotland to have someone even nominated as the best manager amongst most Western European Countries is certainly a wonderful privilege for the manager himself, but also exciting for the club and fans. Players may come, and one or two may think that the grass is greener elsewhere and may move to pastures new, but as a player, and now as a Manager, despite terrible personal attacks our Neil has shown us he is with Celtic for the long run.
Does he wear that collar to piss off the ultra loyalists? If he does then he's doing a bloody good job!
Fabulous testament to NEIL and what he hAs had to suffer since bravely and defiantly coming into Scottish football. Strange that the Scottish media makes no mention of this, yet if it were the fat pie guzzler we would be swamped with it. Instead they produce articles to put him down yet again. Stokes........anyone read the names if the paramilitaries sitting beside a certain gent in Belfast a short time ago???.?.
Yes there is no higher honour in the game than winning the critical acceptance of such a benevolent corporate entity such as Sky. He may even be eligible for phone hacking now. Well done Lenny. Can he top it all off now by winning TV Times personality of the year?
Moses, even in your old age you are aware the only award for Ally is a dozen of pies. 4th tier football doesn't have any gold incense or mire to go round. He will have to rely on Charlie's word which really has not produced much substance yet.
This is clearly an act of positive discrimination. They had to have a token Ginger to give an award to!
Celtic FC By Scott McDermott Neil Lennon reveals half-time rocket inspired his Celtic stars to hammer Ross County 24 Dec 2012 00:01 THE Hoops gaffer admitted he had stern words with his players during the break and they responded in perfect fashion by slamming four goals past the Staggies. James Forrest adds gloss to the scoreline James Forrest adds gloss to the scoreline IT didnât take long for Neil Lennon to pick up some of Sir Alex Fergusonâs traits. After revealing heâd enjoyed a two-hour personal master class from the legendary Manchester United boss, the Celtic gaffer issued his very own âhairdryerâ treatment at half-time on Saturday. Granted, he might not have stripped paint off the Parkhead walls the way Fergie tends to do. But Lennon proved yet again at the weekend the quality he possesses as a manager as he lifted his team at the interval and cajoled them into a much improved second-half display. Remember, this is the guy who once saved his job with a powerful half-time pep talk at Rugby Park, with the Hoops trailing Kilmarnock 3-0 and Lennon staring at the abyss. And he was at it again on Saturday, the players responding to the managerâs words of wisdom by recording a comfortable 4-0 victory over Ross County that increased their lead at the top of the table. Make no mistake, this was a Jekyll and Hyde performance from Celtic. For 45 minutes against Derek Adamsâs side, they were pedestrian, predictable and one-dimensional. Itâs well documented that theyâve struggled at home in post-Champions League games this season. Well, this was a post-Champions League draw display because it looked as if Celtic already had Juventus and the last 16 on their minds. For all the possession Celtic had, it was County who created the first-halfâs two best chances and the Highlanders should have led at the break. Ex-Parkhead kid Rocco Quinn had a golden opportunity to score against his old club after Alex Cooper had picked him out but he rushed his shot and allowed Fraser Forster to smother a weak effort. Then the same duo exchanged passes in injury time and this time Cooper was the culprit as he lacked composure when clean through and blasted straight at the in-from Celtic keeper. And thatâs when Lennon earned his crust as gaffer. Whatever he said to his players at the interval worked a treat, as it was a different side that emerged for the second period. There was pace, urgency and, crucially, a bit of guile in the attacking third, which had been missing before the interval. Lennon said: âI did say something to them at half-time but I canât tell you what. âI just wanted a bit more quality in the final third and an intensity to our play. A few of them werenât playing to their full potential but I got it from them in the second half. âWe got sloppy towards the end of the first half. But overall itâs a clean sheet and a 4-0 win so weâre starting to pick up a bit of pace now.â It wasnât just a motivational team talk that ignited Celticâs win. Lennonâs tactical nous ultimately helped to make the difference. Allowing his top scorer and main striker Gary Hooper to drop off the forward line and find pockets of space in front of Countyâs defence proved key to the result. Heâs famed for simply being a poacher in the box but the Essex boy â who is pals with TOWIE television star Mark Wright â proved he can also do clever inter-linking play and County couldnât handle it. Lennon will be praying Hooper stays fit ahead of the Juve tie in February The 24-year-oldâs contract is due to end in 18 monthsâ time but Lennon expects him to sign a new one. The Celtic boss said: âHooper was brilliant. He looked the best heâs ever looked in training last week. âHeâs lean and hungry. His all-round game was top class and heâll only get better. âHeâs an intelligent player and thereâs things you canât coach. âThe one thing Iâve always liked about him is his football intelligence. He can drop into space or play on the shoulder of people. He also has the natural knack of scoring goals and weâre getting a great return from him. âBut itâs what he brings to the team and his general all-round play that is so important. âI havenât tracked down his agent yet but the soundbite Iâm getting from Gary is that heâs delighted with things and happy to stay here with us.â Lennon and Hooper were the catalysts for a second-half performance that made Celtic worthy winners. Having barely created an opening in front of goal before the break, they took less then a minute to get their noses in front after half-time. Hooper dropped deep, picked out Scott Brown on the run and the captain earned another £20 from his manager with a drilled finish under County keeper Mark Brown. Just seven minutes later it was 2-0. Victor Wanyamaâs surging run from midfield â something else that was missing early on â ended with a pass to Lassad on the left wing. His curling cross found Hooper in the box and he flashed a header past Brown to make Ross County rue those missed chances earlier in the day. Hooper got his second and Celticâs third after Brown flapped at a Charlie Mulgrew corner to allow the striker to head in from close range. The points were then sealed by comeback kid James Forrest with 20 minutes to go. After two months out injured, the winger returned to action as a sub and brought the house down with a superb solo strike. The 21-year-old collected a Hooper pass and drove infield to fire home his first goal of the campaign. Lennon said: âItâs a huge bonus to get Forrest back. Weâre able to revert back to our natural formation when he comes on and you could see Hooper coming alive when he stretched the game. âJames gets people off their seats, he brings a pace to our team and opens games up. âHe also gives us great width.â Wingers with pace and flair â thatâs something else Sir Alex is well renowned for. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/neil-lennon-reveals-half-time-rocket-1504210 He is certainly getting good at this half time team talk.
