Neil Lennon: It wasn’t just Rangers players in tears at final whistle

Neil Lennon was all smiles as he paraded the Betfred Cup trophy in front of the media at Parkhead.

Regardless of a performance level which manager Lennon freely admits was far below their best, he believes the manner of their 1-0 Betfred Cup final victory over Rangers could be the making of the side he has reshaped this season.

As he reflected on Celtic’s tenth consecutive domestic trophy triumph, Lennon revealed that post-match tears at the National Stadium were not confined to the crestfallen Rangers players.

Some of his own squad also broke down as they took in the significance of their backs-to-the-wall heroics which defied their Old Firm rivals.

“I think winning it in that way will be good for them,” said Lennon. “There were a few boys in tears afterwards and then you realise the emotion involved after all the build-up. They’re human beings, at the end of the day.

“Their record is amazing. That’s  seven cup final wins in a row and  every team wants to beat them and, the longer that goes on, opponents are doing their damnedest to win.

“I’m not putting any negatives on Sunday. I know we didn’t play well but we won by showing another side to this team – the character and the resilience, all those things we knew they had.

“There were some real heroes out there, guys who don’t always make the headlines, like Fraser Forster. I thought Kristoffer Ajer was outstanding as well.

“Overall, it was a magnificent team effort against a Rangers side which was heavily motivated and played really well. Maybe that’s the dam bust for our players and they can relax now and play the way we know they can.”

Even when his team were being outplayed in a hugely one-sided first half, Lennon insists he never feared that Celtic’s unprecedented dominance of domestic silverware was about to come to an end.

“No, I was very calm,” he said. “We hadn’t been playing well but I just wanted to get them in at half-time plus I knew we had Odsonne Edouard up our cuff. Again, we didn’t know how fit or sharp he was going to be but he gave us a real spark when he came on, as did Mikey Johnston.

“That gave us comfort, as did the knowledge that we would play better and get a foothold in the game at some stage. But you have to look at these occasions in isolation – Old Firm games are hard to predict and so are cup finals and this was both rolled into one.

“We can park that now, although I might analyse some of it. But they can bask for a couple of days in what has been a remarkable achievement. They don’t really get enough time to do that. I know you can do that at the end of your career but I think they should enjoy what they’ve done for a couple of days.”

Lennon confirmed he will field a much-changed starting line-up on Thursday night when Celtic complete their Europa League group stage campaign against Cluj in Romania.

With qualification for the last 32 already assured, Lennon will take the opportunity to rest some of his key players alongside captain Scott Brown, who misses out through suspension. “It’s perfect, because we have a huge week next week, with league games against Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen. Some players are needing games, either because they’ve not been playing or because they’re coming back from injury. Craig Gordon will play in goal, for example.

“There’s no need for me to take risks on guys who’ve been playing every week getting injured on Thursday, although I know you can get injured at any time.

“We’ll see how Leigh Griffiths comes on, while Vakoun Bayo’s back in training as well. Griff probably would’ve been in the squad on Sunday but our plans altered when Odsonne called off and said he couldn’t start the game – otherwise he would have started and Griff would’ve been  on the bench. Leigh missed out but he and Bayo will be involved in Cluj.”

Lennon has all but ruled out the prospect of Griffiths, pictured inset, moving out on loan in January but confirmed he will look to bolster his striking options during the forthcoming transfer window.

“No matter what the gap is [in the league], we will look to strengthen,” he added. “We may look at letting a couple of players go on loan. We are thinking of that at the minute, allied to the volume of games.

“But I doubt if Leigh will be one of those who go out on loan. I’m not really thinking about that one. I need him around the place and I want him fitter and in condition.

“He knows his targets and he’s getting there slowly but surely. He might start on Thursday and we’ll see what we can get out of him. He’s definitely in contention.”