Neil Lennon Would Be Ideal Candidate For Rangers Job… QPR Obviously!
With Harry Redknapp now departed from Loftus Road, Queens Park Rangers (QPR) are on the lookout for a new manager.
The bookmakers and press seem to think that former Tottenham Hotspur head coach Tim Sherwood is odds on favourite for the role. But some have stated that talks have stalled as Sherwood wants a bigger lucrative contract, the same situation seemed to happen when the former Blackburn Rovers captain was heavily tipped to takeover at Crystal Palace and West Bromwich Albion (WBA).
So if the two parties can’t agree on terms and QPR look elsewhere, they should probably try and have a word with Bolton Wanderers manager Neil Lennon.
Lennon did a fine job in Scotland with Celtic, where he won three league titles and two Scottish Cups as their manager. His exploits in Europe were well noted throughout the world when his Celtic side outperformed and beat Barcelona in the Champions League back in 2012.
When the Northern Irishman left Celtic in the summer many thought he’d soon end up in the English Premier League. Yet both Crystal Palace and WBA overlooked Neil Lennon and went with someone else (those managers didn’t last six months).
It looked as though Lennon’s credentials were not enticing enough, probably down to the stigma that’s attached to the Scottish game.
Instead of kicking his heels and waiting, Neil went and interviewed for the Bolton job when it became available in October. He shone in that interview and soon took over at the Macron Stadium.
The Bolton side he had inherited were languishing close to the bottom of the Championship, devoid of any morale and had only picked up one win in their opening eleven league matches.
Since then Lennon and his coaching team have watched their side play in seventeen league encounters picking up eight more victories and climbing up to fourteenth in the table. His team were narrowly beaten by an in-form Liverpool side after two attempts in the FA Cup.
See that is what Lennon brings you, team confidence. His main initial goal is to come in at a club and change their fortunes with the players that are already there. He did that both at Celtic and Bolton. Players play for the man and back him.
QPR need that!
They need their players to believe in themselves and each other. Lennon and his assistant Johan Mjallby come in and put an arm around players, praise them and get them up for a fight to win as many points as possible.
The manager is also cute with tactics and that often gets overlooked. Let’s face it this is a boss who tactically outfoxed Barca and who ran Brendan Rodgers close just this month. He also does it on the fraction of a budget compared to his rivals.
If chairmen and owners were still unconvinced by Lennon after his stint in charge of Celtic Park then surely his steady but impressive impact with the ‘Trotters’ is enough to put those doubts to bed.
The forty-three year old keeps on impressing and has a great amount of ambition. So should Tim Sherwood leave QPR hanging, then Les Ferdinand and Tony Fernandes should try and bring Lennon down to Loftus Road.
Obviously seeing Neil Lennon managing a team in blue called ‘Rangers’ will take a bit of getting used to but maybe it’s the big break that he’s now looking for!
Posted on February 7th, 2015 by scott
Filed under: Article
Well that’s something I hadn’t considered, but why not? Yes Neil Lennon did a job at Celtic and his record speaks for itself.
Would he leave Bolton Wanderers to come to QPR?
Only he could decide but I don’t think QPR would approach him ‘cos they’re thinking about Tim Sherwood who hasn’t really had a great success.
Would Lennon be loyal to Bolton? I’d expect him to be. I don’t see him as someone who would start a job and then leave before even one season was finished. I’d respect him for staying put.
Perhaps swapping green hoops for blue would intrigue him? If he is able to work with the current players and get them doing what we know they are capable of, then I would welcome him.
Cheers for the comment Colin.
I would imagine that part of Lennon’s initial agreement would include a clause that he could leave for an EPL side.
Would he want to do that so soon after joining? I don’t know. It would be nice to see him being loyal but as we know football is a business and money talks.
Good article. I’ve been saying for months that Lennon is the man I wanted to replace Redknapp and now that we’re in need of a new boss, there’s no excuse to not at least approach him. Though I’d be fine with Sherwood, Lennon has shown that he can make magic happen with his teams, that he’s a likable guy and that he truly is one of the best young managers in the UK.