The road to England for Old Firm managers is not nearly as smooth as many would imagine – including the coaches themselves.
After a successful spell at Rangers, Alex McLeish found no takers south of the border for eight months and was coaxed into the Scotland international job. Martin O'Neill's situation on leaving Celtic was complicated by the illness suffered by his wife, but he was out of the game for more than a year before taking charge at Aston Villa.
Like McLeish, Neil Lennon took a Glasgow club to the knockout stage of the Champions League, beating Barcelona on the way. But this weekend he finds himself in an altogether different movie. Lennon's new club, Bolton Wanderers, begin their quest to escape from the foot of the Championship with a fixture at Birmingham City.
Six months after leaving Celtic of his own volition, Lennon is where he always foresaw his next step in management. “The day I left Celtic I wanted my future to be in England,” he says.
Those who sniff at the humdrum nature of what Lennon has stepped into ignore what he left behind in May. For all that Celtic’s European nights can be wonderful occasions, routine league matches in front of sparse crowds at Inverness and Hamilton hold little appeal for those with talent to match ambition. Bolton’s training facilities are superior to any in Scotland.
Lennon’s appeal to Bolton was obvious. At Celtic, he proved himself as a manager who could source players for bargain-basement fees, improve them and, on several occasions, even sell them on for top dollar.
Club debt
The Lancashire club’s well-publicised debt situation, added to the impact of financial fair play regulations, means Lennon’s experiences with the likes of Victor Wanyama, Fraser Forster and Gary Hooper would have been highly pertinent in their thinking.
The Bolton owner, Eddie Davies, took little time on his first meeting to offer him not only a new job but the security of a three-year contract.
Lennon is far from the ferocious character of his earlier portrayal. He can lose his temper, sometimes spectacularly, but is an excellent man manager. The Northern Irishman is hard-working, has a passion for football and doesn’t over-complicate tactical situations. He has been a regular at coaching forums and has enjoyed one- to-one sessions with the best, including Alex Ferguson.
He laughs at the jargon associated with managerial speak, a trait inherited from O’Neill. Ask Lennon for a football ideology and the response will be instant: “Winning.”
The 43-year-old can’t be accused of picking the soft options. Were that the case, he would have accepted riches on offer from the Saudi Arabian top flight, waited to see how the managerial vacancy at Fulham played out, or continued on TV studio sofas rather than take on Bolton, where rapid improvement is clearly needed.
“There is a lack of confidence and lack of belief, and we have to restore that,” Lennon says. “They lack a wee bit of creativity and spark, so I’m looking for a bit more quality in the final third.”
Key assistants
Lennon’s assistants, Johan Mjallby and Garry Parker, play key roles. Mjallby brings a ferocious will to win and an attention to defensive detail which Celtic have been sadly lacking this season. Parker, a former pupil of David Pleat and Brian Clough, offers a detailed knowledge of players in the Championship and a proven ability to get close to those of whom he is in charge.
Lennon is not stepping into unknown territory. He was a youth player at Manchester City before a successful spell at Crewe Alexandra.
As Celtic’s manager, he was a regular at fixtures in the northwest – including Bolton – to check on potential transfer targets.
His knowledge of the game, which was widely understated before a series of high-profile media work which started with the World Cup, means it will take Neil Lennon little time to understand the challenge in front of him – and the talent at his disposal. – (Guardian Service)
