Celtic land £12m Champions League reward

CELTIC manager Neil Lennon last night indulged in a bout of self-congratulation which no supporter of his club would begrudge him after he steered them back among European football’s elite for the first time in four years.

The completion of a Champions League play-off round success against Helsingborgs, with goals from Gary Hooper and Victor Wanyama securing a 2-0 second leg win at Celtic Park and a 4-0 aggregate scoreline, brings a guaranteed cash windfall of at least £12 million and was hailed by Lennon as the finest achievement of his career so far.

“It’s not often I pat myself on the back, but I’m going to tonight,” said Lennon. “It was one of the hardest challenges I’ve ever had in my life. The pressure was huge. I never experienced anything like that in my playing days. There was so much responsibility. I’m just so happy. In this job, now and again you make yourself happy but you also make other people happy. On a personal level, it means everything to me. It is a privilege to manage this club. To manage it in the Champions League is beyond my wildest expectations.

“It’s my best achievement yet. I’ve been to hell and back for the last six or seven weeks, just trying to get things right. There is a fear factor. I was thinking of the ramifications of not going through and what it would mean for me personally. How would I get through it? In the back of your mind, there is always that fear. I was so nervous and I didn’t want that to filter through to the players.

“It’s a minor miracle for us, because the squad is so thin. But I knew we had a good core of players. I’m very, very proud of them all.”

Celtic will be in Pot 4, among the lowest-seeded clubs, for today’s draw in Monte Carlo. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester United are among those in Pot 1, while Manchester City are in Pot 2 and even Pot 3 contains teams of the calibre of Ajax and Juventus.

“It doesn’t matter who we get,” added Lennon. “I’ve no idea how we will do but for the players just to play at this level, to have the big teams here again, will be a experience. The infrastructure is here for a Champions League club.

“The draw will be very exciting. The fans can get their passports out and start to look ahead. We will all be sitting glued to the TV.

“The shoe is on the other foot now. The expectation on us was huge going into these qualifiers. But the expectation level going into the group stage is not so big. I know there will still be some of our fans who will want us to go all the way, but from my point of view the pressure is off. We can now go on and develop the team against some of the best players and teams in Europe.

“Drawing an English team would be good. It always gets the juices flowing. I’ve got some great recollections of games against Liverpool and Manchester United. If we can avoid Barcelona and Real Madrid, we might have half a chance.”

Lennon was most gratified by his team’s defensive resilience last night and also expressed his gratitude to the home support for the patience shown to his players.

“It was always important to keep a clean sheet,” added Lennon. “Kelvin Wilson had a fantastic game. He’s had a lot of criticism during his time here but he was absolutely brilliant.

“We didn’t start the game the way we would have liked and I’m sure nerves played a part. I was a wee bit apprehensive going into the game, worrying about how the fans would be. But I have to say I’ve noticed a huge shift in attitude from them towards this team. The atmosphere tonight was magnificent.”

Lennon will today turn his attention to strengthening his squad before tomorrow night’s transfer deadline as he prepares for a group stage campaign he believes will have benefits for all of Scottish football.

“We have got a couple of players lined up and hopefully we are going to get the medicals done,” he said.

“I don’t know how many will be coming in at the moment. My mind’s been occupied with tonight’s game, but now I can take stock of things.

“I think a lot of people in the Scottish game will welcome the fact we have a Scottish team back in the Champions League. That’s important, with the atmosphere which has been around the football scene here for the last six months to a year. The players have put smiles back on a lot of people’s faces.”