Lennon admits Northern Ireland job would tempt him in future

ST MIRREN manager Danny Lennon is about to commit his future to the Paisley club by signing an extended deal this week, but he admits the Northern Ireland job would appeal to him later in his career.

The position is vacant following the resignation of Nigel Worthington last month at the end of a disappointing Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.

Lennon was born in West Lothian but was chosen for the Northern Ireland B team during the mid-1990s after scoring for Raith Rovers against Bayern Munich in the Uefa Cup.

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He didn’t make the step-up to play for the national team then but the 41-year-old would love to take charge of it. “I would never say never but I love the day-to-day running of a football club, the interaction and the weekly planning,” he said. “When your team has a poor result then you can put it right immediately whereas at international level you can wait months for your next game after a defeat. You’re also relying on a lot of luck at that level in terms of your best players avoiding injury because the Irish work with a small pool.

“However, from the point of view of going there and competing against the best in the world, it would be a wonderful environment to go and further your education. Mixing with the top, top players in the world would be tremendous.”

With namesake Neil at Celtic, Steve Lomas with St Johnstone, Kenny Shiels at Kilmarnock and Pat Fenlon linked to succeed Colin Calderwood at Hibs, there could soon be as many Irish managers as Scottish ones in the SPL. “It’s great to see Irish football is being recognised because they have produced some very good managers,” said Lennon. “For Michael O’Neill to have the experience of competing in the Europa League with Shamrock Rovers at this stage of his career is invaluable. It’s fantastic for such a small country to have so many managers in our top flight.