Neil Lennon has been praised recently for helping a young talent to improve his game at new club Omonia Nicosia in Cyprus. Lennon took over the manager position at the Cypriots a few months back and has set about rebuilding a reputation that has taken quite the battering after last year.
According to Football Scotland, youngster, Loizos Louizou has been singing the Lurgan man’s praises since he arrived at Omonia. He said: “Mr Lennon helped me a lot. When he came to Omonia, I was not in my best shape. He helped me mentally and also my way of playing.
“After a match when I didn’t play well, in front of all the players in the dressing room, he told me some things that made me wake up and gave me a better future.
“The motivation is always very strong when representing your country and it’s very important for all the players. We want to play well and if that results in something good for me or my team-mates, that would be very welcome.”
The 18-year-old is highly regarded in his native Cyprus and has even managed to amass 15 caps for his country at such a tender age. Moreover, the player scored when he was just 17 against the Czech Republic – who conquered Scotland at last summer’s Euros at Hampden Park with a screamer from Patrik Schick.
Lennon’s style of management has been called into question at times, especially when the wheels came off the entire football department during the 2020/21 season. There may be some who get the benefits of being called out in front of teammates and given a severe dressing down. However, in the modern game it is becoming less and less useful to managers and coaches to shout and scream at players for mistakes or general poor play.
The Northern Irishman was undoubtedly successful in Glasgow during his initial tenure, although the second time around the shoe just did not fit – regardless of whether he still won another League title or not. Eventually the players just stopped playing for him and it showed in the lacklustre performances week-in-week-out.
Having enjoyed cup success with his new side, he will be hoping he can rebuild his career and image and one day return to Britain to manage a club down South one would imagine.
Paul Gillespie
