Neil Lennon knew that Celtic signing ‘was for me’ after watching him for ’10 minutes’, he became a hero

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Neil Lennon had two very contrasting spells as a manager at Celtic.

His second stint came during a time where Celtic’s quest to complete the 10-in-a-row ended at the final hurdle as they lost out to Rangers in 2021.

Before that, Lennon enjoyed a very successful first spell as Celtic boss and was also a popular player during his time at Parkhead.

Plenty of players came through the doors and made a name for themselves under Lennon – not necessarily always for good reason.

But one signing will always stick out to Lennon for the impact he made on him in such a short space of time.

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Neil Lennon reveals incredible story of signing Gary Hooper for Celtic

Gary Hooper needs no introduction to Celtic fans.

Signed from Scunthorpe United in July 2010 for £2.4m and scored 82 goals in 138 games for the Bhoys.

It was a masterstroke piece of business from Lennon but the story behind signing Hooper actually resulted in the former Celtic manager arriving to watch the forward incredibly angry, before being convinced 10 minutes in.

During an interview with SNN Sports in April, 2015, Lennon said: “I drove to Scunthorpe to watch him.

“It took me five hours from Glasgow, I got six points on my licence and I was raging.

“I watched him and I knew after 10 minutes that he was for me. I thought he was great. He was playing in a team that was second or third from bottom but he had scored 20 odd goals. That speaks volumes.”

Why did Gary Hooper leave Celtic?

After three wonderful years at Paradise, Hooper decided to leave Celtic to join newly-promoted Norwich City in 2013.

Norwich paid £5.5m for his services and during an interview with the Daily Express at the time, the forward said he needed to leave the Bhoys to pursue his dream of one day representing England.

“I’m desperate to play for England. That’s a massive thing for me. The problem is nobody really gets a chance for England when they’re playing in Scotland,” he said.

“I know Fraser Forster, above, got in last season but after the Champions League run was over he found himself out of the England squad again.

“It is just really hard to keep yourself in the public eye when you’re not playing in the English Premier League.”

Despite his ambitions, it didn’t work out as Hooper never received a call-up to the England squad.