Celtic boss Neil Lennon has praised former Rangers manager Graeme Souness for having a “good influence” on his managerial career.
The pair previously worked together for Irish TV covering European football in a stint that took place between Lennon’s first and current spells at Parkhead.
Lennon said that following his first spell at Celtic, Ibrox hero Souness, who was both player and boss during his spell in Glasgow, helped carve him into the manager he is today.
“I‘ve learned to stay really focused and in the present as a manager,” the Parkhead boss told the Daily Record.
“I think that’s really important, that you don’t get caught up in any of the hype. Which I probably did when I was younger. That has been a real lesson learned. It’s something that I’ve spoken to Graeme about time and time again. He did change as he got older as well.
“I don’t think he’ll appreciate me saying this but we are sort of cut from the same cloth. We have a lot of ties to the city. I think he is a brilliant pundit anyway but as a footballer and a manager, I have great respect for him. And he has had a good influence on me. We talk about the game a lot, off screen, on screen.
“I worked with him for two years in Ireland and he was a pleasure to be with. I respect him totally because he has done this and he knows how difficult it can be.”
OPINION
There is no doubting that Neil Lennon has matured as a manager: we have seen that so far in his second spell at Parkhead. In his first spell, while he was amazing in terms of winning silverware, he was quite brazen and loved to show his emotions. Take a look at him on his return to the helm, and you see a manager who is now more controlled and knows how to control his emotions better. And there is also no doubting that Souness would – as Lennon says – have had a big impact on the latter’s change of attitude. Souness had a fantastic record as a manager and was key to winning so much silverware with Liverpool, but as Lennon says, he still has ties to Glasgow and the intense footballing atmosphere in the city. Overall, Lennon has come back into Celtic as a better manager who will be better prepared to help the club continue to dominate Scottish football.