Steven Pressley warming to old foe Neil Lennon after frosty first meeting

THEIR first meeting as team-mates, Steven Pressley admits, was a little “frosty”. However, when Pressley goes head-to-head with Neil Lennon at Hampden on Sunday, on the occasion of Falkirk’s clash with Celtic in the semi-final of the Scottish Communities League Cup, the managers will again be reminded of the similarites in their make-ups.

Perhaps this is one reason why they have settled on a relationship based on mutual respect since those early days together at Celtic.

Both have been in their current positions for roughly the same time, having stepped up from more junior management roles – Pressley replaced Eddie May in February 2010, while Lennon was handed the caretaker reins at Celtic just a few weeks later. Each have had their own times of strife since and have survived to prosper, as you would expect such strong-willed men to do.

“When I first arrived [as a player at Celtic] we had been fierce competitors and we’d had a few public disagreements,” said Pressley yesterday. “It was a little bit frosty. But we got on well and I’ve a great deal of respect for him. He was a great communicator and a great captain. You could see he had the makings of a real leader, a manager.”

Pressley believes Lennon’s most significant development came during the early part of this season when the under-pressure Celtic manager having to cope with some strong criticism from within.

Pressley didn’t draw a comparison with his own past problems with Falkirk fans, but he said: “You can deal with most things because your club is behind you but a real test of a manager comes when his own supporters start questioning him.

“It’s easy to deal with outside influences questioning what you’re doing but it’s tougher when it’s your own supporters start questioning you. Neil had to deal with that this season and he’s dealt with that really well. He’s come back stronger and more determined and he’s put together a sequence of results that’s been quite incredible.”

One of Pressley’s own problems – which he now admits – is that he thought be knew more than he did. “I think players retire thinking they know more about the game than they actually do,” he said. He was quickly disabused of this notion and leaned on Alex Smith, his vastly-experienced assistant, when he encountered the inevitable troubles of the novice manager.

“Sometimes I find out the hard way,” he reflected. “That’s the reality of the situation. I’m continuously trying to learn, continuously trying to improve.I think over the past year, tactically and mentally, I have gained a lot more experience, and the man working alongside me, Alex Smith, has helped guide me and I’ve been very fortunate to be working with a man with the wealth of knowledge he has.”

Smith’s influence means Pressley says he would have welcomed a mentor had he been Lennon, for whom such an arrangement was mooted on more than one occasion.

Pressley admits it was Smith’s support which got him through the difficult times. The former Aberdeen and St Mirren boss has also been intrumental in making sure the accent is now on youth at Falkirk. Pressley insists it is the only way and used yesterday’s Press day to promote the Falkirk Cup, the largest youth football tournament in Scotland, which will be held at the club in April.

“Wherever my career takes me beyond Falkirk I will definitely look to bring in the young players from that particular club, because I think they bring an energy to your club. That’s sometimes sorely missing from many clubs,” said Pressley. “They have ambition and they bring such an energy with that.”

Falkirk’s style of football has evolved over the last two years but Pressley remains committed to the idea of what he terms “a Number 9”, and no wonder when he has someone like Farid El Alagui to call on. The Moroccan striker arrived late for his trial in the summer due to a communication mix-up but still quickly managed to endear himself to Pressley.

“Why did I decide to keep him after he was late to his trial? Just his reaction and his apology,” said Pressley. “I could see that he was a good character. He’s such a good influence on the squad, such a positive character. He’s integrated into the group and the players all love him. We reshaped the group last summer, getting the higher earners off the wage bill and sometimes you need a bit of luck in replacing them. He arrived, we looked at him and he impressed.”

Sunday will be a “huge stage” for the striker, who has been the subject of intense transfer interest after scoring 12 goals in 20 games but Pressley added: “He sees this as only a job half done and I think he knows he will have opportunities at the end of the season.”