I love Scotland, but I could never manage the national team, says Neil Lennon…
Neil Lennon would never be tempted to become a future Scotland boss despite falling in love with his adopted home, he has revealed. The former Celtic captain and manager believes he’s not the man to take over national team if Steve Clarke’s job becomes available, because he was born in Northern Ireland.
Neil Lennon was sacked by Rapid Bucharest
Lennon, who is out of work after losing his job with Rapid Bucharest just a handful of games into the Romanian league season, has never hidden his affection for Scotland after lengthy spells as player and boss at Celtic, as well as an eventful spell as head Coach with Hibs.
He set up home in Glasgow, where he raised his son Gallagher who is currently on loan at Annan Athletic from St Mirren. But when he was asked by Hoops legend Frank McAvennie if he would consider taking the Scotland job, Lennon was adamant it wasn’t for him.
Speaking on the Let Me Be Frank podcast, sponsored by betideas.com, Lennon said: “No, that’s for a Scottish guy. Me, personally, I think the Scottish manager should be Scottish.”
Then he joked: “But if I do get it I’ll bring you in as my number two, Frank! I’m trying to imagine Frank putting the cones out – it would be dark before we started training.”
“Scotland’s my home and I love it”
Asked if he would consider managing in Scotland again, he added: “It’s not something I’ve really sort of thought of. You never know where the game takes you. There’s a lot of coaches who go from country to country and really enjoy what they’re doing.
“Scotland’s my home and I love it and I was there for 18 months (in between managing in Cyprus and Romania) and you get the itch to get back into it and I love what I do.
“It’s such a fickle business”
“It’s such a fickle business and one day you’re the king and the next you’re the villain so you’ve just got to find the balance in between and enjoy the ride.”
Lennon, 53, moved to Romania back in May having been out of the game for more than a year following a period in charge of Cypriot First Division side, Omonia where he led them to national cup glory.
But his spell at Rapid was short-lived after Rapid failed to win ANY of their first six league games this season, drawing five and losing one.
Steve Clarke has no intention of quitting
Steve Clarke, meanwhile, has said he has no intention of quitting as Scotland boss following a disappointing Euro 2024 campaign in Germany. Scotland kick off their Nations League campaign this week as they enter League A for the first time. They entertain Poland at Hampden on Thursday before taking on Portugal in Lisbon Sunday.
Scotland will be without Celtic’s inspirational captain Callum McGregor, who called time on his international career a few weeks back in order to concentrate on his club football at Celtic.
And perhaps it won’t be too long before Celtic new signing Luke McCowan gets the nod from Steve Clarke, who is currently re-setting and re-building his Scotland squad with the next big target being the World Cup qualifiers.
