Lennon and Mac are still fab, O'Neill tells Strachan
Former Celtic manager Martin O’Neill has urged the club to keep hold of Neil Lennon and Jackie McNamara after his departure.
The ex-Hoops boss has stepped down to care for his sick wife, Geraldine, and has been replaced by Gordon Strachan.
But both Lennon and McNamara are looking for new contracts with the club as the new boss settles into the job on Monday after a family holiday.
Lennon has targeted June 25 – his 34th birthday – for his future to be sorted, while McNamara, 31, is aiming to celebrate his testimonial year with a new deal.
But the former Celtic Park boss is confident both players will be in Strachan’s plans for the future.
O’Neill told the club’s official website, www.celticfc.net: “I know it’s difficult for a club in the SPL to push on, particularly in the current climate.
“But I do think there’s an opportunity for Gordon to go and stamp his own authority on the football club. The decks are being cleared and, while the nucleus of the side will remain in place – I’m convinced about that – there will be a chance for him to put his mark on the place relatively quickly.
“But, for the club’s sake, I would hope that some of the players whose futures have still to be resolves decide to stay on because it would be hugely beneficial to the new signings if there’s a hard core of Celtic players like Lenny and Jackie already in place.
“That would certainly be my view at any rate, and I’d be very surprised is Gordon’s is at all dissimilar.”
Meanwhile, O’Neill has admitted he was on the verge of moving to Tottenham two years ago.
But only the desire to regain the Bank of Scotland Premier League title from Rangers prevented him from moving to White Hart Lane in 2003.
Celtic had reached the UEFA Cup final but failed to win any of the four trophies they competed for in that season.
O’Neill said: “It was an extraordinary, fantastic year, one that everybody will keep talking about, yet we ended up without a trophy.
“Rumours were abounding then that it was time to go and, to be honest, Spurs were strongly on the case. But, as things unfolded, I just wanted to regain the championship, I didn’t want to leave here with that disappointment around the place.
“So we came back the following season and made sure we did it. And, as I’ve already said, that is my regret about leaving now, that I won’t have the opportunity to come back next season and try to get it back again.
“Two years ago, I also wanted another crack at the Champions League, especially if we could improve the team and push on to a higher level. The unfortunate thing was that, from that time, we were unable to do so.
“It might not have taken an enormous amount, you know, just a couple of class players to make the difference, and I mean specifically for European football.”
