CALLUM MCGREGOR has paid tribute to Neil Lennon and the mentality that he has instilled in the team since taking over as manager. Not only that, when Celtic are defeated by Rangers at Celtic Park after Christmas, Lennon challenged his players to become more attacking and aggressive in the press.
As reported by the Daily Record, McGregor was full of praise for Lennon who has delivered for the club since arriving after Brendan Rodgers’ sudden departure last year.
“Think back to last February and the pressure he was under to finish off the Treble. Then after he achieved that, people said: Okay, can you go again? The gaffer has answered that tenfold.
“Everyone has been raving about the team’s performances, but you also need to look at the gaffer.
“So much time, effort and thought has gone into getting us into that frame of mind to be winners.
“He deserves a tremendous amount of credit for the job he has done since coming back.”
Lennon was not everyone’s first choice but has continued to oversee Celtic producing on the park. The European exits to Copenhagen in the Last 32 of the Europa League, the defeat to Rangers and Cluj remain the only real stains on Lennon’s record. A small amount when you consider the amount of games that he has overseen at the club since returning.
“Even in the first half of the season, we won the Betfred Cup and topped our Europa League group. Then we lost one game in December and the whole thing turned on us.
“The gaffer tweaked the system in January and you saw the results of that move. He wanted to free players up to attack, he wanted more goals and attacking football.
“He felt we’d lost a bit of our zest in the final third and wanted that back.
“The gaffer wanted more energy when we lost the ball and we worked on all of that in Dubai.
“But after Dubai, we came back even stronger and that shows the work being put in behind the scenes. It shows how much of a top manager he is and his desire to win has rubbed off on the team.”
Lennon and McGregor set Celtic on a domestic run following the defeat to Rangers before the winter break which resulted in the 13 point gap that Celtic enjoy. Celtic also made it to the semi-final of the Scottish Cup before the Coronavirus pandemic shut football down.
