Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a Northern Irish football coach and former player who is the manager of Scottish Premiership club Celtic. During his playing career he represented English clubs Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and Leicester City.
Lennon moved to Scottish club Celtic in 2000, where he made over 200 appearances and was appointed captain in 2005. Before retiring as a player, he returned to England and played for Nottingham Forest and Wycombe Wanderers. Lennon made 40 appearances for Northern Ireland in nine years, scoring two goals. Lennon was appointed manager of Celtic in March 2010, initially in a caretaker capacity after the departure of Tony Mowbray.
Former Celtic target Andraz Sporar admits he was never really close to signing for the Hoops because he had his heart set on Sporting Lisbon.
The Slovakian striker was wanted by Neil Lennon but decided to move to Portugal in a £5m move, and he's netted three goals in nine games since joining.
Celtic instead signed Polish hitman Patryk Klimala, who has yet to score in his four appearances for Lennon's side and hasn't been seen since February.
And Sporar revealed why he chose the Lisbon side instead. And it was all down to former Newcastle United flop Hugo Viana, who is now Sporting's director of football.He said: "I gave Hugo Viana my word I would sign for Sporting."I had other offers - most noticeably from Celtic.
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