Gheorge Hagi praises Neil Lennon and ‘rich football culture’ at Celtic

Gheorghe Hagi has heaped praise on Celtic legend Neil Lennon while praising the ‘rich football culture’ of the Scottish Champions. Hagi, who’s son Janis is still under contract at Ibrox, spoke about Lennon after he was signed up as the new manager of Rapid Bucharest.

Speaking about the appointment, Hagi opined that Lennon’s ability to cope with pressure will help him deal with the challenges in Romania, as reported by Daily Record.

“Neil Lennon is a coach who has delivered in his career. He managed Celtic and won a lot of titles in Scotland. He is a great manager and comes from Celtic – a strong club with a rich football culture.

“He knows all about pressure because there is plenty of pressure to win in Scotland and, of course, he will have big expectations to succeed at Rapid Bucharest too. We know how big a club Celtic are because they played Romanian teams in European competition. He is an extremely experienced coach.”

Signed from Leicester City in 2000, Lenny was part of Martin O’Neill’s sides that turned the tide in Scottish football against Rangers in the early noughties and set the club up for the success in years to come.

The affinity with the club he supports continued when Lennon joined the coaching staff at Celtic before eventually replacing Tony Mowbray as manager, initially on an interim basis. Lennon enjoyed two spells as Celtic manager from 2010-2014 and 2019-2021, with a number of trophies to show for his success.

Lennon confirmed his return to management earlier this week, agreeing a two-year deal with Rapid. The Irishman had been out of work since leaving Omonia Nicosia in Cyprus at the end of 2022, after winning a Cup and guiding them to the Europa League Group Stages.