The former Celtic star has once again made a splash due to his comments regarding Neil Lennon’s legacy, much to the ire of Chris Sutton.
Neil Lennon’s Celtic legacy has been a hot topic for quite some time now. While never regarded as a great manager, he has quietly amassed an incredible trophy haul as Celtic boss.
After beating Hearts, he also became the first man in Celtic history to win the treble as a player and a manager. That was not impressive enough for Charlie Nicholas though.
In Nicholas’ Scottish Daily Express column and as cited by 67 Hail Hail, he described his thoughts on Lennon’s legacy after completing the quadruple treble on weekend, as well as Celtic legend Martin O’Neill:
"“Neil Lennon made history by completing the quadruple-treble but it doesn’t put him up there with true Celtic managerial greats Jock Stein and Brendan Rodgers. But I would also say the same about Martin O’Neill.”"
While it might be obvious that Lennon is no Jock Stein, to say that he and Martin O’Neill aren’t up to par with Brendan Rodgers in terms of achievements is a bit much, especially as Lennon still has a chance, albeit waning, to capture the 10IAR this season.
Defending his claims, Nicholas continued in saying:
"“Martin signed some world-class players and also inherited a few, such as Henrik Larsson. He brought in big players and Celtic were paying them fortunes. Reaching the 2003 UEFA Cup Final in Seville was fantastic but I never saw Martin as a true great. Lennon is a bit like that. I absolutely applaud his achievements in winning a treble as a player and a boss but, on the managerial front, his triumphs have come at a time when the title races weren’t overly competitive. In fact, if he had lost any of them he would have been out of a job.”"
Chris Sutton fired back quickly at Nicholas’ claim, simply describing him as “sadly bitter” via Twitter.
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While some of the Hoops faithful may agree with Nicholas, as is their right, O’Neill and Lennon’s legacies for Celtic should absolutely not be dismissed by any means. Especially with the poor run of play for stretches this season, it is understandable that many may view Lennon’s legacy as potentially tarnished if he does ultimately end up losing out on a 10IAR this season.
Yet, regardless, Lennon was a major part of the build-up to the possibility of a 10IAR, winning five of those nine league titles, along with five domestic cup trophies to go in tow.
Martin O’Neill’s success at Celtic should immediately cement his legacy, with three league titles and four domestic trophies, nevertheless the phenomenal 2003 UEFA Cup run which saw them make it all the way to the final before losing to a FC Porto side led by a certain Jose Mourinho, who would go on to win the UEFA Champions League the following season.