Neil Lennon is an engaging interviewee. The Celtic manager is in Dublin to promote a friendly against Liverpool at the Aviva stadium on August 10th and while that remains a focal point of the press conference he's content to discuss any topic raised from his thoughts on a possible move for Republic of Ireland striker Kevin Doyle to Donegal Gaelic football manager Jim McGuinness and his role at the Glasgow club
There's also time to offer his thoughts on Anthony Stokes, Seán St Ledger and his admiration for his Liverpool counterpart Brendan Rodgers both as coach and the manner in which he handled the Luis Suarez-Branislav Ivanovic affair.
He’s also quick to clarify that he’s had no bids from other clubs for his players, hasn’t made an offer for anyone else and while flattered to have his name linked to various English Premier League clubs is more than happy with his lot.
Celtic made contact with Doyle in the January transfer window and Lennon admitted: "I was looking to bring another striker in; he fit the bill. He was having a bit of a tough time at Wolves and I thought coming to Celtic might re-energise him again, give him that zest for football again.
Lose some confidence
"You don't lose the talent, it's a mentality thing. Sometimes you lose some confidence. You're just in an unhappy place. We felt that coming to Celtic might have given him that spark again, because he's definitely got quality. I see towards the end of the season he's banging goals in for Wolves. So whether we go again for him, we'll talk about and decide that later on."
St Ledger’s name was next to be thrown into the mix and Lennon explained: “Seán’s a good player. He played very well against England and showed his qualities, but he’s not a name that’s been on our list.”
Someone whose services Celtic are keen to retain is Dublin-born striker Anthony Stokes. He's been offered a contract and Lennon is hoping for a positive resolution in the short term. "Injury (ankle in a pre-season friendly against Inter Milan) and missing out on the Champions League campaign hurt him. The four or five months he had out made him realise what an opportunity he might have had.
“Now he’s come back and he’s in great condition. He looks stronger for all the work that he’s done in the gym. He’s actually a very good athlete and he had a tremendous end to the season. He’s always had the talent. Two seasons in a row he’s scored 20 plus goals which is a godsend. He’s an important player to me. We’ve offered him a new contract, negotiations are ongoing. I’m pretty confident he’ll be here with us next year.”
Lennon offered an interesting insight into McGuinness role at Celtic.
'Intelligent man'
"He's a very intelligent man and I've learned a lot of little snippets of how he works. I've seen the way that he was able to evolve his ideas on Gaelic games. We've chewed the fat on a lot of things really, not just GAA and soccer. We've talked a whole lot about the psychology of sport more than anything else.
“He was very nervous going into the Tyrone game. That’s given Donegal a huge psychological lift for the remainder of the campaign. I’m sure there were a lot of people who would have come out to sharpen the knives if they’d been beaten, saying that he wasn’t focused on the Donegal job because he was spending three days a week in Glasgow.
"But we made sure that wouldn't over-ride his primary job which is with Donegal. And he's worked very well with the younger players. He's given us a bit more insight into their mentality. What we really want from Jim is to build up a profile of all the younger players, so we know their strengths and weaknesses. It's not about their football talents because we will have already ascertained those anyway. But their private lives as well."
Brilliant player
On the Suarez affair Lennon said: "He's (Suarez) a brilliant player. I was watching the British Lions last week. Owen Farrell got a left hook from a Barbarian (Schalk Brits) right on the jaw. More is made out of Suarez taking a nibble out of Ivanovic than this guy hooking Owen Farrell.
“I think there has to be perspective put on things when it comes to football. It is a worldwide sport. The players are role models and they have responsibility but I think in terms of Suarez you take him to one side and say, ‘look behave yourself.’ Obviously it wasn’t the first time he’d done it but I think the ban was excessive to say the least.”
