Lennon announced on Offish site

[a1]

the whites are going up !

[bhoyo1888]

Hi lads,

Celtic fan here... Was down at Bolton for Jimmy Phillips Testimonial and glad you guys have given Neil Lennon a path back into football.

In terms of Lennon the manager and Lennon the person...

As a personality he has a reputation among some as being a bit of a chav and a thug. This is perhaps the most unfair public perception of a figure in football that I can recall. If you've ever sat down and watched Neil Lennon speak you'll find he's articulate, speaks sense and is pretty laid back. I'm utterly convinced that any skeptical Bolton fans will be willing to give him a chance after they hear him speak.

He does have a firery temperament (not a bad thing) and in his first year as Celtic manager he let that get the better of him on occasion. You have to remember though he was thrown into a huge pressurized job with no experience and he struggled to cope early on. At the end of his tenure at Celtic he had grown up so much it was unbelievable and even those who were not overly convinced of his managerial credentials would agree he was a fantastic ambassador for the club.

In terms of his managerial abilities. It's common sense. He's not trying to reinvent the wheel. He will play his best players in the system that suits them best. At Celtic he played 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-5-1, 3-5-2. He's very flexible and willing to change the teams shape and style to get the best out his players. Last season for example he managed to find a system to suit Kris Commons who was in blinding form and managed to get him to 30 goals for the season playing a free role off the front.

What goes unnoticed is the fact that the team he built at Celtic was extremely young and you could count on one hand the number of 30 year olds he managed in his 5 years at the club.

I think he's a great appointment for you guys. If you ignore the fact it's Scotland and Neil Lennon and just look at the CV it's impressive...

Experienced international as a player
Premiership experience as a player
Championship experience as a player and a coach
European experience as a manager guiding a smaller team to the Champions League last 16
Proven track record of developing players form a lower level and turning them into Premiership players (Ki, Ledley, Wanyama, Forster..)

Happy to answer any questions you have about him.

[thebish]

Thought this little post was interesting?

Bolton are probably the smallest, shittiest, most irrelevant club I have ever heard of, but I still hope he does well with them.

presumably coming from someone with familiarity with the scottish leagues!

[Prufrock]

Enough of all that nice guy Owen Coyle shite, I'm looking forward to us being obdurate and obnoxious again! He seems the right man to bring that intensity back, and also sounds like he can be cute too.

[TKIZ!]

Neil Lennon's Supa White Army?

[norm the jedi]

Happy enough with the appointment as long as he is given the resources I'm hopeful.
If he's left with the same shower of shoite I imagine we'll scrape us up a bit and then struggle limply on.
But then I've never really believed in the cult of the messiah manager.
He'll do but he'll need supporting financially..

[enrdentw]

Hi lads,

Celtic fan here... Was down at Bolton for Jimmy Phillips Testimonial and glad you guys have given Neil Lennon a path back into football.

In terms of Lennon the manager and Lennon the person...

As a personality he has a reputation among some as being a bit of a chav and a thug. This is perhaps the most unfair public perception of a figure in football that I can recall. If you've ever sat down and watched Neil Lennon speak you'll find he's articulate, speaks sense and is pretty laid back. I'm utterly convinced that any skeptical Bolton fans will be willing to give him a chance after they hear him speak.

He does have a firery temperament (not a bad thing) and in his first year as Celtic manager he let that get the better of him on occasion. You have to remember though he was thrown into a huge pressurized job with no experience and he struggled to cope early on. At the end of his tenure at Celtic he had grown up so much it was unbelievable and even those who were not overly convinced of his managerial credentials would agree he was a fantastic ambassador for the club.

In terms of his managerial abilities. It's common sense. He's not trying to reinvent the wheel. He will play his best players in the system that suits them best. At Celtic he played 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-5-1, 3-5-2. He's very flexible and willing to change the teams shape and style to get the best out his players. Last season for example he managed to find a system to suit Kris Commons who was in blinding form and managed to get him to 30 goals for the season playing a free role off the front.

What goes unnoticed is the fact that the team he built at Celtic was extremely young and you could count on one hand the number of 30 year olds he managed in his 5 years at the club.

I think he's a great appointment for you guys. If you ignore the fact it's Scotland and Neil Lennon and just look at the CV it's impressive...

Experienced international as a player
Premiership experience as a player
Championship experience as a player and a coach
European experience as a manager guiding a smaller team to the Champions League last 16
Proven track record of developing players form a lower level and turning them into Premiership players (Ki, Ledley, Wanyama, Forster..)

Happy to answer any questions you have about him.

Thanks, a great insight, the more I read the more my opinion is changing. I'm very excited about this appointment.

So, that was the praise... What about his negatives? Areas for improvement? Seems to give refs a hard time which I feel is massively unprofessional.

[Peter Thompson]

I'll just throw something else into the ring....

To stake his reputation coming to Bolton, with little money for major signings he must be of the opinion that our squad is decent enough and just seriously under performing and that he can get them up the table.

[thebish]

Happy enough with the appointment as long as he is given the resources I'm hopeful.
If he's left with the same shower of shoite I imagine we'll scrape us up a bit and then struggle limply on.
But then I've never really believed in the cult of the messiah manager.
He'll do but he'll need supporting financially..

it'd be nice to think someone has found cash down the back of eddies gold-plated sofa - but I also think it'd be wishful thinking!! I suspect he has what we've got and that he's been told that in no uncertain terms!!

[TANGODANCER]

Somebody who isn't afraid to speak his mind will do me fine. We've had two nice-nice guys who will be better remembered for ear-flicking, ping-pong and plans that never worked out, than football. Get in there Neil lad and give em some welly.

[mulgrew21]

Hi lads,

Celtic fan here... Was down at Bolton for Jimmy Phillips Testimonial and glad you guys have given Neil Lennon a path back into football.

In terms of Lennon the manager and Lennon the person...

As a personality he has a reputation among some as being a bit of a chav and a thug. This is perhaps the most unfair public perception of a figure in football that I can recall. If you've ever sat down and watched Neil Lennon speak you'll find he's articulate, speaks sense and is pretty laid back. I'm utterly convinced that any skeptical Bolton fans will be willing to give him a chance after they hear him speak.

He does have a firery temperament (not a bad thing) and in his first year as Celtic manager he let that get the better of him on occasion. You have to remember though he was thrown into a huge pressurized job with no experience and he struggled to cope early on. At the end of his tenure at Celtic he had grown up so much it was unbelievable and even those who were not overly convinced of his managerial credentials would agree he was a fantastic ambassador for the club.

In terms of his managerial abilities. It's common sense. He's not trying to reinvent the wheel. He will play his best players in the system that suits them best. At Celtic he played 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-5-1, 3-5-2. He's very flexible and willing to change the teams shape and style to get the best out his players. Last season for example he managed to find a system to suit Kris Commons who was in blinding form and managed to get him to 30 goals for the season playing a free role off the front.

What goes unnoticed is the fact that the team he built at Celtic was extremely young and you could count on one hand the number of 30 year olds he managed in his 5 years at the club.

I think he's a great appointment for you guys. If you ignore the fact it's Scotland and Neil Lennon and just look at the CV it's impressive...

Experienced international as a player
Premiership experience as a player
Championship experience as a player and a coach
European experience as a manager guiding a smaller team to the Champions League last 16
Proven track record of developing players form a lower level and turning them into Premiership players (Ki, Ledley, Wanyama, Forster..)

Happy to answer any questions you have about him.

Thanks, a great insight, the more I read the more my opinion is changing. I'm very excited about this appointment.

So, that was the praise... What about his negatives? Areas for improvement? Seems to give refs a hard time which I feel is massively unprofessional.

A definite negative is that his success rate with strikers is extremelly worrying.

As manager he signed Amido Balde, Teemu Pukki, Holmbert Fridjonsson, Leigh Griffiths, Miku, Lassad, Mohammed Bangura, Pawel Brozek, Gary Hooper, Daryl Murphy and Anthony Stokes.

Hooper did well. Stokes has had his moments. The rest were absolute garbage. Some didn't even score a single goal. 2 decent signings out of 11 isn't great at all.

He is far better in the defence and midfield however.

[EverSoYouri]

I'll be honest, I was holding out for Hierro with Campo as his assistant, but I'm happy with this appointment.

TKIZ, is still trying to deliver their "Please attend an interview" letters. TKIZ out!

I'm so sorry about that. It was addressed "Ivan and Fernando, Madrid, Spain" when I popped it in a post box over there

I don't do faxes, those who know football know that

Fax off, then? Like DF and sidekicks...

[thebish]

A definite negative is that his success rate with strikers is extremelly worrying.

s'ok - we're kinda used to that!

[Burnden Paddock]

SKD on SSNews talking about it now.
Not exactly effusive, said little of note really about Lennon's appointment at first.
'Restore confidence', blah blah 'smiles on faces' blah.
Then said he had been open to offers from Bolton, but had no contact. He genuinely seemed to think he was in with a chance of a job. Not quite sure what.
I expect Preston fans aren't massively pleased with that interview.

My thoughts too. At least the SSN reporter acknowledged the hole that SKD was digging himself into with Preston fans and asked a question about PNE at the end of the interview.

[EverSoYouri]

I'll just throw something else into the ring....

To stake his reputation coming to Bolton, with little money for major signings he must be of the opinion that our squad is decent enough and just seriously under performing and that he can get them up the table.

That's my view, too. It seems he may have turned down a £2m year Saudi job. He's ambitious and, if successful, I wouldn't be surprised to see him move on in a couple of years. But that will require significant success and he must believe he can achieve it here.

I'm happy to back him and the team.

Also, I don't think the Brum game is massive (though it would be great to get off to a flyer). Out of the bottom three by Jan seems a reasonable measure, I'd say.

[thebish]

I'll just throw something else into the ring....

To stake his reputation coming to Bolton, with little money for major signings he must be of the opinion that our squad is decent enough and just seriously under performing and that he can get them up the table.

I know he must have done some research for his interview - but unless he's a serious football anorak - I'd be surprised if he knew anything at all about more than 3 or 4 of our current squad...

[Worthy4England]

I'll just throw something else into the ring....

To stake his reputation coming to Bolton, with little money for major signings he must be of the opinion that our squad is decent enough and just seriously under performing and that he can get them up the table.

That's my view, too. It seems he may have turned down a £2m year Saudi job. He's ambitious and, if successful, I wouldn't be surprised to see him move on in a couple of years. But that will require significant success and he must believe he can achieve it here.

I'm happy to back him and the team.

Also, I don't think the Brum game is massive (though it would be great to get off to a flyer). Out of the bottom three by Jan seems a reasonable measure, I'd say.

Hope we can find him a bit of dosh in Jan.

Brum isn't massive, although maybe they could give us the three points back we lent them to keep them up.

I can remember we had some shots against Bournemouth, it would be good to have some more.

[Larsson7]

Hi all. Thought I'd give you another bit of perspective on your new manager from north of the border.

First up. As Bhoyo1888 said, Lennon suffers from a very unfair reputation. On the park he was a fiery character - the type of guy you loved having in your team, the type of guy you hated if he played for your rivals. Off the park he's a lot calmer, intelligent, very softly spoken, and comes across very well in interviews. He also has a strong personality. He put up with so much crap and abuse in Glasgow that no Celtic fan would have been surprised if he had decided to walk away. He was attacked several times by Rangers (RIP) fans, sent bullets and bombs in the post, had death threats made against him, and was attacked by a Hearts fan during a match live on TV.

In terms of his management, I'd disagree with some of what's been said previously. He's not particularly flexible in tactics or team selection. At Celtic he had a tried and tested core of players that he would stick to as much as possible. It meant fringe players would often go ages without a sniff of a game, and they grew rusty as a result. It also meant some players were overplayed, and tired as a result, as the season went on. NL also likes his 4-4-2. One of the criticisms many had of his tactics was that the midfield often struggled to take control of the game, as our 2 was usually up against the other teams 3 in the middle. He did change it every now and again, usually in Europe. He's very good at setting up a team to negate opponent's tactics. This is why we punched above our weight in Europe. But when we're the dominant team expected to break down a packed defence, we quite often struggled. There was a real lack of flair, too. The football could best be described as ranging from brutal to bearable, with the occasional stop off at nice. But we did set a new Scottish record for successive clean sheets last season, so there is that. His substitutions can be utterly baffling at times, though.

Speaking of which, he gave Celtic fans one of the finest nights in the clubs history - the 2-1 win over Barcelona. Qualifying for the last 16 of the CL that year was the high point of his time at Celtic. But he also gave us some horrendous European nights - the 4-0 hammering in Utrecht being the prime example. And there were some atrocious results in Scotland as well - getting dumped out the League Cup at home to Morton, for example.

Transfers. The players signed range from inspired to brutal to utterly pointless. There's an endless ongoing tiresome debate on Celtic forums about just who identifies and signs players at the club, and how much say our manager has in that. What's true is that Lennon did a great job in developing Gary Hooper, Victor Wanyama and the like. But we also wasted a shitload of cash during his tenure on guys like Daryl Murphy, Mohamed Bangura, Derk Boerrigter, Teemu Pukki, Amido Balde, etc.

Overall, I'd say Neil Lennon is a decent manager, but one with plenty of flaws. We won 3 league titles with him at the helm, but 2 of those seasons were after Rangers (RIP) had been liquidated and forced to start as a new club in the bottom division. He won 2 Scottish Cups with him as well, but given the situation up here over the last few years, 2 out of the 9 domestic cups he could have won doesn't seem particularly great. Last season we were dumped out of both cups before the quarter final stage for the 1st time in about 60 years. It'll certainly be interesting to see how he does with you. There's a feeling up here that he quite often had his hands tied by a penny-pinching board, and that he succeeded in spite of them. So perhaps he's a better manager than some give him credit for. But the Championship can be a pretty tough league, and he's used to managing a team with a budget many times higher than his opponents.

Hope it works out for you. Regardless of the flaws, nearly all Celtic fans have the utmost respect for NL as a person, and would want nothing but success for him.

[thebish]

we'll thrash Brum! word!

arse to all the cautious "don't expect instant results and overnight miracles" bollox!! I expect to be top by Easter...

[SmokinFrazier]

Cheers to the Celtic fans for their opinions on Lennon. It's helpful for those of us who've only really seen Celtic in Europe and I'm glad you think he'll do well here.

It's an exciting appointment, I think. There's an element of doubt around Lennon but of all the choices, he was always the one most likely to get people talking and I think he was the candidate most likely to get an immediate reaction from the fans and players. A real problem with us at the moment is a lack of confidence and we needed a Lennon type figure who can restore some of that because he's coming in with an untarnished reputation, so I'm confident he'll have an immediate impact because of his presence. Whether he's tactically astute, good in the transfer window etc., we'll find out in time but I do think this is a good appointment right now and I don't think it'll be long before we are in a safe position again either.

I think he's the right opponent for us right now and hopefully it works out in the long term. It's an exciting move for the club and well done to Gartside for making such a bold move. I'm looking forward to our next game and hopefully Lennon can bring his winning touch to Bolton.