'It was a huge step coming from Donegal to working with Celtic players' - Lennon

Former Celtic manager and Northern Ireland international Neil Lennon has opened up about Jim McGuinness’s time at Park Head where he held the role of performance consultant over a decade ago. 

Speaking on the GAA Social podcast with Thomas Niblock and Oisín McConville, the Armagh native, who was capped 40 times for his country, speaks about the first time he met the 2012 All-Ireland winning manager which led to the Glenties man’s appointment at Celtic FC, whilst he still held the position as Donegal manager.  

“I met Jim after Donegal won the All-Ireland in 2012. He wanted to have a go at football coaching, which is obviously a very difficult thing to do,” said Lennon. 

“I spoke to Dermot Desmond at the club about it. He was a big fan of Jim. We both thought that because of the way he changed the GAA landscape, he might have something to offer at Celtic.” 

Despite Lennon, who won 24 major honours during his time as a player and manager in the game, admitting he had a good working relationship with McGuinness, he acknowledges that he was initially dubious in hiring a coach with no professional football experience. 

“Yeah, I was skeptical at first, because in GAA you’re working with people from the one community. In football you’re working with people from all over the world, people with different backgrounds and different cultures. Also, we have to remember, it’s a totally different game from GAA. 

“I left at the end of that season, and I know Jim went onto China and then America to do more coaching, but I don’t think it really was for him,” Lennon admitted.  

“It’s a very difficult thing to do going into a different sport, it’s like me saying to Kieran McGeenay, ‘Out of the way, I’m going to be the new Armagh manager’.” 

Despite the difficulty, Lennon states that he did learn from the current Donegal manager’s psychological knowledge of sport which impacted the ways the youth teams prepare compared to the senior team at Celtic. 

“Jim came in and started, at first, working with the younger players. He was always willing to get hands on. Fair play to him because you’re coming to Celtic, you’re going to be working with top-class international players. It’s a huge step coming from Donegal to want to work with the first team.  

“I really enjoyed working with him, I liked him, and I learned a bit from him. He was very good at observing young players. 

“I remember he came in one day and said that the youth teams shouldn’t be copying the first team in the way they prepare, and he had a point.  

“Our youth team might only play 30 games a season, whereas the seniors would play maybe 60 games a season. So, it’s not right for them to all have the same routine, and Jim picked up on that. 

“I didn’t really follow Jim at Celtic after I left, but it’s great to see him back in his natural habitat as Donegal manager,” said Lennon.