Neil Lennon relishes a close-up view of SPL cup final this time

NEIL Lennon has a special affinity with the League Cup on both sides of the Border. He won the English version with Leicester City in 1997 – his first major medal – and again three years later; and in Scotland it was his first trophy as a player, then his first as captain.

This time last year he had high hopes that it would also be his first trophy as Celtic manager, but Rangers won 2-1 after extra-time. It was an especially frustrating afternoon for Lennon as he was serving a touchline ban and had to watch from the back of Hampden’s main stand. He is thankful that tomorrow, when his team take on Kilmarnock, he will be a lot nearer to the action.

“I was right up the back – I needed binoculars,” Lennon recalled yesterday. “If I’d been any further back, I’d have been in the car park. I might get a closer view this year.

“It was a long, long way back. The press had better seats than I did.

“It was tough, especially when you couldn’t get down for the start of extra time and you’re trying to relay messages down to your staff. Even when we went a goal down in extra-time I still felt we had plenty of time to get back into the game, but we never looked like doing it.

“We went a bit gung-ho trying to get the equaliser, and to me that showed a little bit of naivety and inexperience in the squad. It was a good learning experience for us.”

Celtic are certainly a far more mature and confident side now than they were a year ago, and go into this match on the back of a long unbeaten run which makes them clear favourites. For months now it appears that they have gone into every game ideally prepared and with self-confidence high, the last time they were caught completely cold having been the October match against today’s opponents when they were 3-0 down at half-time but fought back for a draw.

Six months on, however, it was a different game which Lennon used as a warning against taking anything for granted. “Preparation is all very well, but it’s once you cross that white line,” he said.

“We felt we’d the preparation right for Ross County, but you could tell ten minutes into the game that the players weren’t right,” he said, referring to last season’s Scottish Cup semi-final, which Celtic lost 2-0. “So we have to be very wary of Kilmarnock. They’re a good team, they’ve had a good season and some great results. They deserve to be in the final and it will mean a hell of a lot to them if they win it.”

If Kilmarnock are to win it, they will have to show the verve they displayed that autumn day against Celtic, not the spinelessness which was all too evident when they conceded six at home to Caley Thistle. Of course, they are far from being the only inconsistent team in the SPL, and Lennon has been impressed by the football Kenny Shiels has had them playing in his first full season in charge at Rugby Park.

“I am surprised how well he has done – I thought he might have struggled because it is his first real test at this level, as a manager. I know he filled in last year when Mixu [Paatelainen] left, but the way their season ended, I thought they might struggle – but they have not.

“He has done a brilliant job. Bringing Jimmy Nicholl in [as assistant manager] has been a really good piece of thinking. They have had some great results this season, against ourselves and Rangers. And they have also made a cup final. The football Kilmarnock have played at times has been pleasing on the eye.

“Kenny is a good guy. I know he’s had a few spats with people – but people in glass houses should not throw stones, know what I mean?

“I am really pleased that things have gone so well for him because he has worked very hard. Every time I go to watch an SPL game, Kenny seems to be there. So he is meticulous in his own preparations and I am sure it will be no different on Sunday.”

Shiels’s spats with others have included one with Ayr United manager Brian Reid after the semi-final, when he accused the First Division team of “parking the bus” in defence and killing the game as entertainment. Asked if Kilmarnock might be tempted to do the same against Celtic, Lennon said he could not see it.

“To be honest, I do not think that is in his nature. I think we have all been guilty of that sometimes, coming out after a game where we’ve all struggled to break a team down and criticising the opposition’s tactics. Until we end up doing it ourselves sometimes if the game is tight.

“It’s heat-of-the-moment stuff and I am sure looking back on it, Kenny probably regrets those comments, because there are times when it can come back to haunt you – and I’ve done it myself. I am sure he didn’t mean anything over-critical of Ayr.”

Shiels has praised Celtic in recent days, declaring that it would be a “travesty” if Lennon’s team do not go on to win the treble.

“It’s very complimentary and I appreciate those sentiments,” the Celtic manager said. “I think it would be a travesty myself,” he continued, laughing. “But that’s just my crappy opinion.”

The term ‘travesty’ might be open to debate, but it would certainly be a shock if Celtic fail to secure the first leg of that treble tomorrow. No matter how meticulously Shiels prepares, his team could be helpless to withstand the firepower of opponents who showed at Tannadice last Sunday that they are at the top of their game just now.