MX23RW : Thursday, July 4 10:39:51| >> :600:90555:90555:

Scott Brown backs "phenomenal" Neil Lennon to continue winning trophies

Scott Brown backs
© Reuters
Lennon is expected to sign a new long-term contract with Celtic within the next few days.

Scott Brown has backed Neil Lennon to continue the winning mentality at Celtic after the manager was offered a long-term extension to his contract.

Celtic made the dramatic move in the immediate aftermath of their William Hill Scottish Cup final win over Hearts, with the deal expected to be finalised in the coming days.

Lennon returned to Celtic Park in February following Brendan Rodgers' sudden exit for Leicester and has helped deliver the treble treble, with the champions ultimately finishing nine points ahead of Rangers in the league.

The former Northern Ireland midfielder has now managed to get Celtic over the line in four of their eight consecutive title triumphs, and Brown is in no doubt he will continue to pass on his will to win to the players.

Ahead of the impending appointment, the midfielder said: "He was phenomenal for me first time around and he will be phenomenal for the lads.

"They will all learn because he's a winner. He wants to win trophies and he's in the right place for that.

"He will go away and have a little holiday and let his hair down and then he will come in, there is a lot of recruitment to be done. He will bring in new players, he will bring in quality players.

"He has done that in the past, he brought in Victor (Wanyama), he brought in Virg (Van Dijk). He's got a great eye for a player and I am sure he will do that again."

Brown also described Celtic's achievements this season as "phenomenal" after they made it an unprecedented nine consecutive domestic trophies with a 2-1 victory over Hearts.

Ryan Edwards gave the underdogs the lead in the 52nd minute but Odsonne Edouard soon equalised from the penalty spot and the French striker clinched the win eight minutes from time.

"The lads have worked well all season," Brown added. "We have had to dig deep in some games. A lot of people wrote us off, said we have not had a great season but we've won the three trophies that were there for us to win.

"Yet again we have managed to go 1-0 down, possibly we got a little bit lucky but we have scored two phenomenal goals.

"Odsonne, the way he has taken the penalty under that much pressure, all the Hearts players walking up to him and trying to put him under.

"They always try that, it's Craig Levein's tactic and that's what he tries to do, but yet again Odsonne is better than that."

Celtic have now won on 11 consecutive trips to Hampden, and Brown feels their mentality shines through on the big occasion.

"We just believe," the 33-year-old said. "Brendan set the mindset coming to Hampden that we would dominate games, score goals and create chances, and defend better than we ever did before.

"We are a lot fitter than we have ever been in our careers and we keep pushing. It's that belief in each other. When we look around, we know there are goals all around the park.

"I'm very proud to have captained the lads, to have played with some of the superstars we have got in this team. Here's hoping for a lot more (trophies).

"We need to make sure we get Champions League now, we need to push for that and make sure we start the season really well."

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Gavin McCafferty, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', 'd8252f59-b0a3-490b-a2b2-ef16a9b6ac86');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': '\u2018Phenomenal\u2019 Lennon will continue to win trophies for Celtic \u2013 Brown'});

ID:360315: cacheID:360315:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:6104:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Neil Lennon celebrates Celtic's title win on May 4, 2019
Read Next:
Neil Lennon hints at Celtic stay following triple treble glory
>
rhs 2.0
Euro 2024 fixtures header
Friday, July 5
 
5pm
Quarter-Finals
Spain
vs.
Germany
 
8pm
Quarter-Finals
Portugal
vs.
France
Saturday, July 6
 
5pm
 
8pm
Tuesday, July 9
Wednesday, July 10
Sunday, July 14
Tables header RHS

Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Germany Germany32107
Q Switzerland Switzerland31205
3 Hungary Hungary31023
4 Scotland flag Scotland30121

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain33009
Q Italy Italy31114
3 Croatia Croatia30212
4 Albania national flag Albania30121

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England31205
Q Denmark Denmark30303
Q Slovenia Slovenia30303
4 Serbia Serbia30212

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Austria Austria32016
Q France France31205
Q Netherlands Netherlands31114
4 Poland Poland30121

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Romania Romania31114
Q Belgium Belgium31114
Q Slovakia Slovakia31114
4 Ukraine Ukraine31114

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal32016
Q Turkey Turkey32016
Q Georgia Georgia31114
4 Czech Republic Czech Republic30121


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!