Lennon grateful for one-sided royalties

Sports Writer

Sunday 30 September 2012

NEIL LENNON had a few choice words for Aiden McGeady one dark day in Dunfermline in December 2006 when Celtic had just conceded a stoppage-time goal.

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But when it comes to the way the 26-year-old Republic of Ireland international has thrived since moving to Russia in the summer of 2010, he has only nice things to say. The Northern Irishman reinvested the £9.5m profits of the McGeady sale to assemble the rump of his current team, and among the other intriguing sub-plots in the Champions League Group G meeting with Spartak Moscow on Tuesday night is a clue about who got the better end of that particular bargain.

"We had a few words," recalled Lennon. "But who I have not had words with over the years! If he comes back to bite us, then that's football. We were able to build a new team with the money we got for him. Joe Ledley, Beram Kayal and five or six others. We needed to do some surgery on the squad. But Aiden was a great servant to the club and nobody here has a bad word to say about him. Nobody ever wants to sell their best player," the Northern Irishman added. "But the money we received made sense for us to do it. We've progressed well. That said, would I love to have Aiden McGeady in my team? Yes, I would."McGeady might as well be Lennon's specialist subject – he was on the pitch at Tynecastle when the youngster made his debut, then watched him make great strides despite an occasionally stormy relationship with Gordon Strachan. If the Spartak scouting reports compiled by John Park are anything to go by, he fully expects the Glaswegian to be a threat on the artificial surface of the Luzhniki Stadium. "I remember Aiden playing against AC Milan and he was fantastic that night," said Lennon. "You could always tell he had natural ability. Under Gordon, he improved his physical athleticism and he could take the ball for long runs at speed on a regular basis, which is no easy thing to do."It looks like he's enjoying his football," the Celtic boss added. "It can't be easy to go to a new environment and prosper. I'm sure people had their doubts about how he'd cope at the age he was, but he's answered his doubters."Any Celtic away match in the group stages requires a dusting down of that oft-derided away record which has seen the club lose 17 and draw one – at the Nou Camp of all places – in their group stage matches on their travels to date. Russia, however, has been an oasis in the desert – the club's two last visits on qualifying duty saw them draw 1-1 courtesy of a Paul Hartley goal against Spartak Moscow in 2007, then win 2-0 against Dinamo Moscow during the otherwise ill-fated tenure of Tony Mowbray. Recent away form hasn't been too bad – Celtic drew twice away from home in the Europa League last year, and won in Helsinki and Helsingborgs earlier this season – but the Russian league is improving every season. Spartak are packed with multi-million pound talents, even if Brazilian superstar Romulo will miss the match."When Tony went there and won, that was a fantastic result," said Lennon, who hopes to have Georgios Samaras fit again. "We are going to the same stadium where Gordon got a result and Paul scored a fantastic header so, yeah, it has been okay. But different times, different teams. "They have a manager [Unai Emery] who has come in from Valencia which is a good pedigree. They are a very impressive outfit. To go to the Nou Camp, take the lead and run Barca very, very close is impressive. We know they have goals in them and we will have to adjust to the pitch pretty quickly as well, although the fact we have been to Helsinki and won on their plastic pitch will help. We will probably not have the bulk of the possession, but I feel we have players who can cause Spartak problems."The Champions League has been a long time coming for everyone at the club. While Joe Ledley, fit again after injury, hopes to see off some serious competition in the midfield area to make his debut in the competition in Moscow, it is a perfect platform for his manager to further enhance his reputation. "From the day I signed you could see he was going to become a great manager," said the Welshman. "He has achieved a lot already at such a young age. When he took over there were a lot of changes so it has taken us a couple of years to do it. But it is about time a club like Celtic got into the Champions League. We just have to give it 100%."

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Lennon grateful for one-sided royalties

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