Former Celtic Manager Neil Lennon Opens up about Jim McGuinness’s Time at Park Head
Former Celtic manager and Northern Ireland international Neil Lennon has spoken about Jim McGuinness’s tenure at Celtic FC over a decade ago when he held the role of performance consultant.
In a recent interview on the GAA Social podcast, Lennon discussed his first meeting with McGuinness, who had just led Donegal to victory in the 2012 All-Ireland championship. Impressed by McGuinness’s ability to transform the GAA landscape, Lennon believed he could offer something valuable to Celtic and approached club chairman Dermot Desmond about the possibility of McGuinness joining the staff.
Lennon admitted to being skeptical initially due to the vast differences between GAA and professional football. However, he acknowledged that working with McGuinness proved to be a positive experience overall.
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, Lennon explained.
McGuinness’s stint at Celtic was short-lived as Lennon left the club at the end of that season. McGuinness went on to pursue coaching opportunities in China and the United States, but Lennon feels that football may not have been the best fit for him.
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’, Lennon commented.
Despite the challenges, Lennon did note that he learned from McGuinness’s psychological knowledge of sport, particularly in how it impacted the ways youth teams at Celtic prepared compared to the senior team.
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, Lennon shared.
Lennon praised McGuinness’s ability to observe young players and recognized the importance of tailoring training routines to the specific needs of different teams within the club.
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, Lennon explained.
While Lennon didn’t closely follow McGuinness’s career after leaving Celtic, he expressed delight at seeing him back in his element as the current manager of Donegal.
The partnership between Neil Lennon and Jim McGuinness may not have lasted long, but it provided valuable insights into the crossover between the worlds of GAA and professional football. McGuinness’s time at Celtic exposed Lennon and the club to a different approach to coaching and preparation, highlighting the need for adaptability and understanding when exploring new territories in the realm of sports management.
