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Scottish Premier League December 2011 News
Scottish Premier League News December 2011: Lennon was Close to Quitting
Ali Morrello
Celtic
Neil Lennon has admitted that he was close to throwing in the towel as Celtic manager.
Last month he stood on the touchline at Rugby Park in Ayshire as Celtic went 3-0 down to Kilmarnock. They later came back to level the game 3-3 but Lennon has conceded that he would have resigned if Kilmarnock had scored another goal.
Instead, he stuck by it and Celtic have managed to whittle Rangers' whopping lead in the SPL down to a more manageable four points. With an Old Firm date looming in December the title race has been blown wide open again.
Lennon believes that his mental strength has served him well - and insisted that he is in the position he is not because of his ability to motivate and cajole players, but because he has proven himself as a boss.
"Listen I wouldn't have got the job if I was just a rabble-rowser who shouted at people in the dressing room and put Irish music on," he said.
"I have got a few things wrong along the way. I am not saying I won't make mistakes as we go along but I am pretty pleased with how we are going.
"I've learned that I can do it, that I can take the pressure and not panic. Even if things are going well I don't get too high and just concentrate on the job."
Lennon has conceded that he asked questions of himself when Celtic were desperately toiling for consistency over the last three months, although ultimately he had faith in his ability to turn it around.
The recovery has been swift and someone unexpected, but it has thrown the Parkhead side a lifeline in the race for the title. A task that seemed highly improbable just a fortnight ago is suddenly attainable.
And Lennon has sent an appreciate nod the way of the Celtic board for standing by him when it looked as though it was falling apart on the pitch.
"When you are 3-0 down at Kilmarnock you think, 'do you hand your resignation in after the game if it goes to 4 or 5?' It would have been totally unacceptable for someone like myself even though I've never been under any pressure from upstairs.
"We started that game OK, missed a sitter and then conceded three soft goals. I was starting to worry, 'is this a reflection of me?' 'Is this my team here?'
"But I got the reaction I was looking for in the second-half.
"I didn't think we were in such a bad position that the sack was looming. However, if results had continued and the gap had got a lot bigger that you couldn't see ahead of yourselves then I could understand it but the one thing I didn't do was hit the panic button.
"I thought there was plenty of time and we just needed to get some consistency in and claw our way back into it."
And Lennon believes that the experience of the last few months and the pressure that went with it has made him a more mature boss.
"When you come out the other side of it you can look back on that period and think, 'you know what, you did alright there and you can do it again,'" he said.
Meanwhile, Celtic have been boosted by the fact Scott Brown has penned an extension to his current contract. The Hoops captain was out of contract at the end of this season and was strongly linked with a move to Newcastle.
An argument between Celtic and the player's agent over fees due held up the deal, but to Lennon's relief it has now been sorted.
"Scott is a crucial member of our squad and someone we felt it was very important to keep at the club," said Lennon. "He is a special player and his commitment, drive and all-round ability is something we feel is very important to us.
"I'm pleased we've been able to finalise this and I would like to thank Scott's representatives for their assistance in bringing these negotiations to a successful conclusion."
And Lenon is also hoping to cash in on the undisclosed fee that the Parkhead side will receive for the sale of Dutch defender Jos Hooiveld.
The defender has made his loan deal to Southampton permanent and the Hoops boss has his fingers crossed that the cash banked from the deal will swell his budget when the transfer window opens next month.
"I don't know what my budget is, but I might have a bit more money now that Jos has gone to Southampton," said Lennon.
"We have a few quid in the coffers there and that is always handy."
"We have our eye on two or three players, but I haven't given it much thought of late.
"I like to go and see players personally if I can and we have four or five targets in different positions."
Rangers
Rangers boss Ally McCoist has insisted there is no panic at Ibrox despite the fact his stuttering side allowed a 12-point gap to be slashed to four in the space of just one week.
The Ibrox side's costly draws against St Mirren and St Johnstone and their first defeat of the season to Kilmarnock means that Celtic have been thrown a lifeline in the title race.
McCoist, reflecting on the reversal of fortune that has seen Celtic come storming back said: "I don't see it affecting confidence in the players.
"The defeat to Kilmarnock was the first time we have lost in the league all season.
"There certainly isn't going to be any panicking. Contrary to maybe what a lot of people thought, I didn't think we had won the title. As I said when we were 12 points clear, will have twists and turns. That will happen in the championship.
"Nothing gets handed out in November. We never thought our lead was going to be extended and all that carry on. It's now down to four points - and I would rather it be in our favour than against us.
"But I won't lie to you, it's a little bit disappointing."
McCoist says the absence of long-term injury victim Steven Naismith is affecting his team's ability to carve opponents open - but has told his players to stop using that as an excuse.
"It's a fact that we're missing him,' he said. "But there's nothing we can do about that. We've said since he got the injury that any team in the country would miss Naismith.
"But there's no point sitting here saying we're missing him without doing something about it. We have to go and win games in other ways.
"Naismith - no matter how much we keep talking about him and saying we're missing him - he ain't coming back. So we need to get on with it."
The Ibrox side have brought in ex-Aberdeen winger Sone Aluko who has been without a club since quitting Pittodrie in the summer.
The 22-year-old has impressed in his opening two games and has thanked Rangers for giving him the chance to prove himself.
Aluko feared that he was set for the football scrapheap before Rangers stepped him to rescue him from his wilderness hell.
Rangers gave him a chance which he appears to have grabbed with both hands and he is determined to relaunch his career with Ally McCoist's men.
"It was really tough sometimes," he said. "When you train on your own you have to be confident and have some self-belief that things will work out for you. I had to keep a base line of fitness so that if a chance like this came then I was ready to take it.
"I was lucky because my family supported me all the way through it.
"But if I am being honest, there were certainly times when I wondered if I done the right thing leaving Aberdeen and there were many days I was on my own and feared that it might have made the biggest mistake of my career. My family kept encouraging me and that was important.
"Now that I have been given this chance I am determined to take it."
And Aluko has told the Rangers fans that they haven't seen anything yet.
The Nigerian internationalist took the man of the match award from Saturday's 2-1 win over Dunfermline and he has insisted that once he is 100% fit and fully integrated into the Ibrox side, there will be more to come from him.
"I will improve with every game because my playing games with new team-mates you find a bit of harmony with them," he said.
"It is hard at first but there is definitely more to come from me. It is just a case of taking it day by day and trying my hardest to settle and bring success to the club.
"I did my best to stay fit and prepared but nothing is the same as playing games. It is all about finding your touch and your rhythm and even your mental sharpness during the game. It only comes with playing games."
Scotland
Scotland manager Craig Levein has told Hearts forgotten man Andrew Driver that he still has a future at international level.
Less than two years ago the Hearts player was at the centre of a tug-of-war between the SFA and England, with a rule change implemented to allow Scotland to finally claim him as one of their own while, at domestic level, Tynecastle was proving the in place for top scouts and managers to congregate as speculation about his next club reached fever pitch.
Yet, the player has fallen out of favour at Hearts and has played just 31 minutes of first-team action since August. He remains in the thoughts of national manager but, until he can get back to regular first-team football, that's where he will stay.
"As soon as he is back playing regularly, he will be back in the squad," said the Scotland manager, who has been a long-time admirer of the former England under-21 international and who championed the rule change which means players can represent one of the home nations if they have been educated in that country for five years, an amendment which allows the English-born Driver to qualify for Scotland. "I wouldn't have gone through the process of tackling the ruling which made him eligible to play for us if I didn't want him playing for Scotland. I didn't do that for nothing," said Levein.
But the plans to cap the player have been temporarily blighted, initially by injury and subsequently by a lack of SPL game time.
Levein added: "It's not my place to tell club managers who they should and shouldn't be selecting but I will say that Hearts must think they have some very good players if they can afford to leave a fit Andrew Driver out. When Andrew Driver is 100 per cent fit, as I believe he is, then I'd say he is one of Hearts' best players. He has not been getting the opportunities to prove himself in a match, though.
"He has been unfortunate with injuries in the past but now he is fit and he must be feeling frustrated, knowing how close he came to international football and a big move down to England. It must be extremely difficult for him but I still firmly believe he is an international player all day long and he will show that once he gets back playing."
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