The genesis of Neil Lennon’s relationship with Martin O’Neill can be traced all the way back to a dingy flat in Cheshire some 30 years ago.
As a fiery and combative young midfielder on the books of Crewe Alexandra, Lennon’s performances had caught the eye of O’Neill.
It was in 1996 when O’Neill, along with his right-hand man John Robertson, turned up at Lennon’s flat and refused to leave until he had agreed to sign a contract to join Leicester City.
‘It was a flat where you had to wipe your feet on the way out,’ Lennon joked recently. It was the start of a quite incredible journey that would bring no shortage of success and silverware.
Over the next ten years, at Leicester and Celtic, O’Neill’s managerial mastery would be complemented by Lennon being his on-pitch enforcer.
‘I had ten years of Martin in his pomp,’ said Lennon this week. ‘Over the course of my career, Martin had the biggest influence on me by far.
Martin O’Neill signed a fresh-faced Neil Lennon for Leicester from Crewe for £750,000 in 1996
‘He teaches you how to win football matches. He taught me so much. It’s him against him on Saturday.’
With the Scottish Cup at stake, this will not only be a game of thrones, but a game of clones.
Lennon flatly rejected any suggestion of this being a clash between the master and the apprentice — and rightly so.
In a punchy pre-match media conference, he said: ‘I find that disrespectful. I am nobody’s apprentice. I am too old to be an apprentice.’
But he also made clear just how significant O’Neill had been throughout his career, both as a manager and as a player.
They are cut from the same cloth. They both possess an inner steel and desire to win at all costs. Lennon is his own man, but there is also a huge part of O’Neill instilled in him as well.
‘Everyone talks about what Martin did at Celtic, but what he did at Leicester was incredible as well,’ continued Lennon.
‘Promotion then four top-ten finishes in the Premier League and three League Cup finals. If that were a modern-day manager now, he’d be going to Bayern Munich.’
Lennon and O’Neill will face off at Hampden this weekend for Scottish Cup glory
The mutual respect and bond between the two men is immense, but personal sentiment will be put aside at Hampden this afternoon.
If this is to be O’Neill’s grand farewell to Celtic, Lennon would have no issue with being the party-pooper. Romance will not cloud his vision.
Lennon was right to reject the master-versus-apprentice narrative. It is cliched. It is also disrespectful to what he has achieved in his own managerial career.
When he was the manager of Celtic, Lennon won five league titles. Victory over Hearts last weekend saw O’Neill clinch his fourth.
Lennon led Celtic to ten major honours in total during two stints in the dugout. O’Neill’s Parkhead trophy haul currently stands at eight.
None of this is to say that Lennon is a better manager than O’Neill. He would be the first to knock that theory on the head. But neither is he some kind of rookie apprentice. If he can mastermind a victory over Barcelona in the Champions League, he can most certainly defy the odds once again.
If he can lead Celtic to a victory over a Barca team that had Messi, Xavi and Iniesta in their pomp, he can certainly beat a team that has Liam Scales and Auston Trusty as their centre-back pairing.
Lennon has spoken of this Celtic team being ‘fallible’. Whilst the odds may be stacked against Dunfermline, few would deny that they at least have a puncher’s chance. Particularly given the run that Lennon’s side have been on, beating three Premiership sides in Aberdeen, Hibs and Falkirk to reach the final.
Lennon was a trusted midfield enforcer for O’Neill in big matches for Celtic at home and abroad
Lennon was written off and almost ridiculed by some when he left Celtic in 2021. Some supporters viewed him as a major cause of all the club’s ills during the failed ten-in-a-row season.
The fact that there remains serious structural issues behind the scenes five years down the line surely demonstrates that to be unfair.
Yet, slowly but surely, he has rebuilt his managerial career over recent years. In 2022, his Omonia Nicosia side pushed Manchester United all the way in the Europa League. He also won a domestic cup with the Cypriots.
Now comes the chance to do likewise with Dunfermline, the Championship underdogs who are seeking to win the trophy for the first time since 1998.
Standing in his way is the very man who helped shape not only his career as a player, but his vision and style of management.
O’Neill may be vastly experienced with hundreds of thousands of miles on the clock, but he feels there could yet be a few more miles left in the tank.
Whenever the subject of his future has been broached over the past week or so, the only thing he hasn’t done is categorically rule out the chance of him remaining in charge beyond the summer.
The availability of Robbie Keane, who has now left Ferencvaros, could change the landscape. But should Celtic win this afternoon to complete a double under O’Neill, the calls for him to stay would only grow louder among a fanbase who worship his every step.
Lennon and O’Neill won many trophies together at Celtic… and Lennon has won more as a boss
If football management is a marathon, O’Neill has run it in every weather, at every altitude, against a multitude of different rivals, and always winds up with silverware in his hands.
In a way, it is sad that a 74-year-old man should be drawn into such fevered controversy as has been the case with O’Neill this week.
At this stage of his life, he probably doesn’t need the hassle. He certainly doesn’t need the abuse and aggro that came with changing his phone number.
When he spoke on Thursday, he had the good grace to apologise to Hearts for comments he had made earlier in the week about last weekend’s title decider.
If that cast a cloud over what should have been an emotional and momentous day for him, then a cup final at Hampden offers the chance for a glorious last hurrah.
In Lennon, there is a kindred spirit standing in his way. If Dunfermline can set fire to any notion of Celtic winning a double, O’Neill will recognise that it is one of his own who is stood on the touchline holding a petrol can and a box of matches.
