LUBO MORAVCIK has discussed how important and sometimes under appreciated Neil Lennon was in the Celtic dressing room during their time together at the club. Speaking to the Celtic website, Lubo discussed how Lennon was vital in bringing teammates together and how he is doing that just now, in his role as manager.
“Neil was a special part of that team. He was a player who sometimes flew under the radar. He worked hard for everybody, and it was essential to have someone like that on the team.
“The best squads are made up of all types of different players, and Lenny was that absolutely crucial type of player for the team.”
Moravcik had already been at Celtic when Lennon arrived from Leicester City, following Martin O’Neill to Glasgow in 2000. Despite that, Lennon was at the heart of the dressing room, making sure everyone was involved and knew what they were doing.
“Neil is a very friendly guy, and he was a great presence in the dressing room. He was one of the friendliest in the squad. We had a lot of international players in there, and everyone spoke English, which made it easier for everyone to communicate.”
Both Lubo and Lennon arrived with Tom Boyd and Paul Lambert sharing captaincy roles until Boyd retired leaving Lambert with the armband until 2004. Jackie McNamara took over from him before Lennon became club captain in 2005 under Gordon Strachan.
Lubo reckons that the way Lennon was in the dressing room has influenced the way in which Scott Brown marshals the first-team changing room today, which stems back to O’Neill’s management style.
“Players like Lenny made a real effort to make sure everyone was included, which made him even more important to the dressing room. I’m also sure this is partly why he’s such a good manager. You can see that in players like Scott Brown. To me, it looks like he’s learned a lot from Neil Lennon in that regard, a lot of which I think Neil would have learned from Martin O’Neill.
“That’s how it works for so many people at Celtic – you learn from the greats, and then one day you could be passing that knowledge down the line to the next future greats.”
Moravcik and Lennon were part of the 2000-01 Treble winning side. The Slovakian, dubbed ‘a gift from God’, spent four seasons in Glasgow and won two league titles, two league cups and one Scottish Cup.
INVINCIBLE by Matt Corr
The Celtic Star’s very own Matt Corr – who you may also know as a Tour Guide at Celtic Park – publishes his first Celtic book, titled INVINCIBLE – early next month. This beautiful hardback book will be the definitive story of Celtic’s magical2016-17 season – it truly is wonderful, a real joy to read, and brilliantly written by Matt.
If you have been reading Matt’s regular contributions on The Celtic Star or indeed in the Matchday Programme or in the Celtic View you will know just how talented a Celtic writer he is. The book is published by The Celtic Star and you can pre-order below.
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