Neil Lennon had two very different spells as Celtic manager.
His first saw him tasked with building a team of young players to reclaim the SPL title and compete in the Champions League – a task he handled exceptionally.
By the time of his second, he was inheriting Brendan Rodgers’ ruthless winning machine which hadn’t dropped a single trophy.
A notable difference between the two spells was his demeanour. In Lennon’s own words, he ‘wanted to take on the world’ in the first spell, and he had mellowed a bit by the time of his second.
A central figure of that first spell was Charlie Mulgrew, who has told a story of one of the lowest points of those four years.
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Charlie Mulgrew’s untold Neil Lennon story from first Celtic spell
Lennon took over from Tony Mowbray, initially on an interim basis, before being handed the Celtic hotseat on a permanent basis as his first senior manager job.
In a dramatic first full season, Celtic were neck-and-neck with Rangers in the title-race, but it all came crashing down in the final stage of the campaign.
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Two infamous games from the closing stages of that season came away at Rangers and Inverness – Mulgrew has spoken of how Lennon responded.
On The Breakdown, he said: “I remember, we had a penalty in the last minute to beat Rangers in that same season, and [Allan McGregor] saved it.
“Don’t quote me on it, but that would’ve won us the league, I think. We would’ve went something like five points clear or something like that.
“Samaras had scored earlier that season, he went the same way, [McGregor] saves it, and Rangers end up winning the league by two points.
“And I’ve never spoken about this: what sticks in my mind about that season – and it still hurts me to this day, hurts me even thinking about it – we played Inverness away.
“Remember, Lenny kicked the bottles and they smashed everywhere, and we lost. And I had an absolute nightmare. I always look back on it.
“On the bus coming back down from Inverness, we stopped in at Celtic Park for a meeting. Right into Celtic Park, into the office. All the players and the staff.
“And he went through everybody, arguments and everything. People calling each other out, it was going mad.
“We had a crisis meeting every time we got beat. It was good, because it always made us kick on!”
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Charlie Mulgrew’s Celtic career under Neil Lennon
Celebrated for his versatility. Mulgrew played a wide variety of positions under Lennon at Celtic.
He left the Hoops without making a senior appearance in 2006, spending time at Dundee United, Wolves and Southend United.
It was at Aberdeen where he established himself as a top player in the SPL, and Lennon offered him the chance to return to his boyhood club.
He went on to make over 200 appearances for the Celts, spending some of that time as vice captain to Scott Brown.
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