CELTIC manager Neil Lennon has paid a heartfelt tribute to his former Rangers rival Fernando Ricksen.
Lennon squared up to Ricksen, who passed away yesterday following a long and brave battle with motor neurone disease, on many occasions during his playing career at Parkhead.
The Northern Irishman described the 12-times capped Netherlands internationalist as "a fierce competitor" and offered his condolences to his family.
Speaking from France where is preparing for a Europa League game against Rennes this evening, Lennon said: “I’m upset because he was a big player and personality in my era.
"To lose him at 43 is cruel. There but for the grace of God go I.
“Six years he had to battle it and it is awful. When it actually does come it is still a shock no matter what side of the fence you are on.
“I think we are all united in grief for him and his family. He was a fierce competitor and the rivalry was great.
“We played in a great era in Glasgow when the two teams were chocful of superstars, really.
“Fernando matured and got better as he went on, to the point when he was Player of the Year.
“I would send my condolences to his family, to Rangers and to his team-mates who played with him, because I am sure they are feeling the loss as well.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel