Neil Lennon makes beeline for Celtic talent as eagle eyes catch Dunfermline manager's brilliant gesture
The former Celtic boss is now working with a Hoops loanee at Dunfermline Athletic.
Neil Lennon has shown his appreciation for one Celtic talent in winning his first home game as Dunfermline Athletic manager.
The Pars beat Livingston 1-0 midweek to secure a priceless three points in their hunt for Premiership promotion. There are numerous former Celtic players in the Dunfermline ranks, including Victor Wanyama, but they also have goalkeeper Tobi Oluwayemi on loan from the Premiership champions.
He has been the number one at East End Park this season. In brilliant footage blended into a post-match interview by the BBC with the former Celtic manager and player, those with eagle eyes for detail can see Lennon gesturing towards Oluwayemi. He then euphorically greets him in a brilliant move, before talking through something with him, building their relationship in the early days of Lennon’s Pars reign. Lennon then praised the keeper post match.
Lennon verdict
The Dunfermline boss said of the win: “For everyone associated with the club, really. You know, especially the supporters, the players, the staff here who have been brilliant with me and obviously, you know, the owner and the chairman who have been really supportive. Really tough game, we knew it would be but I thought the players responded magnificently to what we asked them to do. I’m really proud of the players tonight, not only the starting eleven, but the three subs who came on made us, gave us the energy, made us better against a top team in this division. So, it’s one step, that’s all it is, in the right direction.
“You want to play more football at times, but that’ll eventually come. It’s difficult to do that on the pitch and this league is attritional, there’s not much in it. We got the goal and I felt we were good value for maybe another couple of set plays. We defended set players well. Tobi had to make one outstanding save when they needed him and you know, that’ll give him a huge shot in the arm as well. So as an all-round team performance, I could not have asked any more of them.”
Former Celtic man loving life with Lennon
One of those former Celtic players working under Lennon is ex youth talent Ewan Otoo. He said to club media: “He’s bringing a lot of belief, he’s bringing a lot of positivity and motivation every single day and a lot of standards, mainly standards and quality, when you’re below the quality he’ll let you know. That’s why every single day you have to be on it, all the boys are on it every single day because if you’re not you’ll hear it. He’s behind us all night, he wants the best out of us, we want the best for him as well, so we try and perform for him as well.
“I think he uses all his experiences that he’s got, tries to just get the boys lifted, get us believing in ourselves, makes us believe that we’re good players and we’re good enough to go out and get good performances and get results. When it’s coming from someone like him, you soak in every word, it’s an absolute brilliant experience and a pleasure to work under someone like him. You just want to really indulge and really embrace it and hopefully you can get the rewards from that.”