It was a meeting of two Celtic legends on Tuesday night.
Neil Lennon began his managerial journey in 2010 with Celtic, but Scott Brown is still pretty new to proceedings after entering the dugout with Fleetwood Town in 2022.
But, fast forward to the present, and the former Celtic players find themselves in the Championship, and vying to push their respective sides – Dunfermline Athletic and Ayr United – into the big time.
It was Dunfermline who were the hosts for this league fixture, but by the full-time whistle, Brown was the one celebrating three points, and Lennon wasn’t a happy man.
Neil Lennon reacts after Dunfermline lose to Scott Brown’s Ayr United
To be fair, Lennon, the player, was no-nonsense and aggressive. Those traits haven’t been lost on him now that he is a manager.
Mark McKenzie netted the only goal of the game after nine minutes, with the home side having a man sent off just after the break to make matters worse.
Ayr held on to win the game, as Lennon was annoyed that his team didn’t show any urgency in their play, and he told Dunfermline’s website that the team’s constant poor starts to matches are driving him ‘crazy.’
“I’m going to take responsibility for it,” said Lennon. “I picked the team and the formation.
“The first half was awful, just so unlike us. It’s a mentality thing, and we need to change our mentality. We had an opportunity to go second tonight, and our approach to the game in the first half was poor.
“I don’t know, it’s a mentality thing. In the second half, they’re down to ten men, and they have a real go at it. That’s the way we should have been playing from the first minute. We were too safe, we were too passive. We didn’t play in our third the way we normally do. We didn’t pass the ball with any urgency. We weren’t aggressive enough on and off the ball.
“That’s down to me because, like I said, I’m going to take responsibility for that. It’s very, very disappointing.
“Yes, it’s driving me crazy. I don’t know what it is. We’ve got to get to the bottom of it. Again, tippy-tappy football, which we don’t encourage. No penetration, well, nobody attempting to penetrate. Nobody is attempting to light the fuse. Everything was safe, and everything was played in front of Ayr.”
How are the Celtic heroes doing in the Championship
First of all, they aren’t the only former Celtic players in the dugout in Scotland’s second-tier because Partick Thistle also has that connection.
On Sunday, Celtic beat Thistle in the League Cup, and as a result, Brendan Rodgers’ side ended Mark Wilson’s reign in the competition, as they too have made a positive start to the new league season.
Thistle have two games in hand (played five), but they are still above Lennon and Brown’s team in the table.
- St Johnstone, 7 games, 19 points
- Raith Rovers, 7 games, 11 points
- Arbroath, 7 games, 11 points
- Partick Thistle, 5 games, 10 points
- Dunfermline, 7 games, 8 points
- Ayr United, 6 games, 7 points
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