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.
Rutherglen ace Craig Howie thought playing Celtic in the Scottish Cup would be a once in a lifetime opportunity - now he’s preparing for his third crack at the Hoops in six years.The Alloa defender admits it’s a surreal feeling as he gears up for another huge clash, following his first outing in 2016 with Lowland League East Kilbride and a second go with League One Clyde in 2020.When East Kilbride fell to a 2-0 defeat at Airdrie’s Excelsior Stadium in a last 16 tie, it was Ronny Deila at the helm and the 3-0 last 16 exit with the Bully Wee came when Neil Lennon was in charge.And Howie insists the challenge facing him when Ange Postecoglou’s charges come calling at the Indodrill on Saturday night for the fourth round tie will be the toughest test of them all.The 25-year-old, who works full-time for Tesco Bank, said: “It’s very surreal, to be honest.“I can’t believe this will be the third time I’ve played Celtic in six years.“When I was at East Kilbride I thought it’d be a once in a lifetime opportunity for a player around my level, but it’s come about a lot more often.“From my own perspective, I’ve always been keen to play at as high a level as possible and the higher up the leagues you go, normally the further you will go in competitions.“I’m very fortunate that this will be the third time I’m in this situation and it’s always a great occasion when you play the top teams.“But it’s definitely the strongest Celtic team I will have come up against.“The way they are playing, the intensity they are playing at, it’s going to be very difficult.“The last two games I played against them, we were comfortably beaten and that was against sides that didn’t play to the level Celtic do now, so it will be, in my opinion, even harder
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