Neil Lennon urges Celtic board to let Martin O'Neill decide his future after salvaging Double (original) (raw)

The Pars boss shared a warm embrace with his old manager after the full time whistle at the national stadium

Dunfermline boss Neil Lennon reflects on 3-1 Scottish Cup defeat to Celtic

Neil Lennon raised an arm with Martin O’Neill to congratulate his old mentor on another trophy - then urged the Celtic board to show the same courtesy by allowing the veteran boss to decide his future.

The Dunfermline manager is adamant the 74-year-old has proved he is still more than capable after rescuing the Hoops for what appeared to be a car crash of a season to secure an incredible double.

And says he can’t see any candidates who could have done what O’Neill has in salvaging a double.

Lennon cut a frustrated figure after watching his second tier side beaten 3-1 by the champions at Hampden.

And while he says he’s got the appetite to go again next season at East End Park, Lennon reckons it should be completely down to O’Neill if he is afforded the same opportunity at Celtic Park.

He said: “I think it is his decision, and it should be his decision, whether he wants to stay on or not. Only he can answer that. I think the club should let him say what he wants to do.

“I don’t see many candidates out there who could do what he has done this season. It did not surprise me.

“So, if he stays on then great, if he doesn’t then the club should do something for him to recognise what he has brought to the club in these two spells.”

Lennon and O’Neill shared a warm embrace right on the full-time whistle at Hampden. Many had dubbed the final as master v apprentice after the pair’s long association at Leicester City and Celtic.

Lennon had bristled at that pre-match, pointing to the fact he has a cabinet full of winner’s medals in his own right as a boss.

But asked what he said to his fellow Northern Irishman afterwards, Lennon revealed: “I just said congratulations. I’m delighted for you. Well done. It was a nice moment.”

Lennon won three titles under O’Neill as Celtic captain over two decades ago and heard his own name ring out round the Hoops support at full-time yesterday.

The Northern Irishman, who also had two spells in the Parkhead dug out winning nine trophies including five titles, joked “they weren’t singing it five years ago” after his second stint in charge came to a trophy less end.

But he was deadly serious when he said he’s ready to take Dunfermline to the next level now.

His Pars side had dumped Premiership trio Hibs, Aberdeen and Falkirk as they blazed a trail to their first final in 19 years.

But this defeat came just a week after they lost the play-off final to Patrick Thistle.

And while they came up short again at Hampden, Lennon insisted: “My appetite has never changed. Wherever I go I have the energy. I spoke to Gordon Strachan about it, and he said if you don’t have that get out.

“This time of year, you shed your skin. You drop off at the end of the season, get away on holiday and then you start to think about what is next.

“I see a lot of pundits speaking about wins, every club loses titles and cups. I lost a Cup Final in the last minute to Tottenham, I have lost Cup Finals at Hampden.

“If you have got the right attitude you want to come back for more. I believe in what I am doing. All the great managers have had incredible highs and incredible lows but they keep coming back for more.

“That is because it (winning) is the best feeling in the world. It just makes you so proud for everyone associated with the club.

“I hate losing. Even at 54. I am quite mellow at the minute but the dog is in trouble when I get home!

“I have got to take a lot of positives from this season. We have got to a cup final and to the playoffs but just come up short.

“I’m positive about the future? Yeah, of course I am. We've got a young, hungry squad that have excelled themselves this year. They've had a real taste of success. We've got to try and build on that, but there's no guarantees.

“We've got to get recruitment right and build on what we achieved this year. It's been an exciting season, there's no question.

“I’ve got to pay tribute to the supporters today, there was a hell of a turnout. It was magnificent. I'm glad they got to see a goal at the end of it.”

Lennon accepts he has a major rebuild on the cards with a clutch of key players set to depart East End Park.

He said: “A lot of these players will not be here next year. We've offered them contracts and they’ve stalled so I'm assuming they're going to go elsewhere.

“It's not going to be the team that we saw today. There's going to be a lot of changes. Hopefully we can build on the nucleus of the squad that we have.

“I just thought today, the occasion startled them a little bit. That's okay, because it's their first final. I remember my first final with Crewe, it was the same thing.

“I hope we get the opportunity to come back again and learn from that experience.

“Bottom line is, we're playing the best team in the country who've got bags of quality. Obviously, off the back of winning the title last week.

“If we'd got a goal at 2-0, we could have made a real fist of it. Even a 3-1, you think, 15 minutes to go. Can we do something? We've been struggling for strikers for a couple of months now.

“It takes its toll, particularly against the top teams.”