Celtic boss Neil Lennon pays tribute to the influence Graeme Souness has had on him in Glasgow

Neil Lennon has marked his accession to the post of Celtic manager with an unexpected tribute to former Rangers manager Graeme Souness.

The two men worked side by side for two years on Irish television, and the Hoops boss credits the former Light Blues, Liverpool and Scotland star for helping him mellow in his middle age.

“Graeme did change as he got older, and it is something I have spoken to him about time and time again,” he said.

“He was a pleasure to be with when we worked together, and I’d say he has had a good influence on me.

“I think he is a brilliant pundit, anyway, but as a footballer and a manager, I have great respect for him.

“And, of course, I respect him totally for having done this (managed an Old Firm club). He knows how difficult it can be.

“I don’t think he will appreciate me saying this, but we are sort of cut from the same cloth. We both have a lot of ties to the city.

“It is very rarely normal here. There are no grey areas with this job. It is exciting, though.

“There will be dips, there will be lows, but I am well used to that and so are the board.”

They are also accustomed to all manner of distractions, one of which saw ex-Celtic star, Frank McAvennie, claim during the early days of Lennon’s caretaker spell that a player had complained that the Irishman had shouted at him.

“There’s not one ounce of truth in that,” said Lennon. “I don’t know where that’s come from.

“In fact, some of the players were coming up to me a few days later saying, ‘I don’t know where it’s come from, gaffer’, and you know the boys aren’t like that.

“I don’t know where Frank got the story from.

“You get conjecture and speculation, I get that. But I hadn’t shouted at anyone, so I was disappointed and the players were disappointed as well.

“I am nowhere near as aggressive as I was the first time I was in charge.

“I wanted to take on the world back then, and prove a point and that kind of stuff.

“That might have been detrimental to me, occupation-wise, so I have learned to deal with that and my temperament is a lot better for the job.

“I can do it. I have done it before and these guys have bestowed on me the opportunity, so I couldn’t have said no.”

As Lennon himself noted, this time round is very different to his first stint in charge of Celtic.

In 2010, he was the inexperienced new boss going up against the veteran Rangers manager, Walter Smith.

Now, he is the one who has seen it all and done it all before trying to fend off the challenge from an exciting young coach, in the shape of Steven Gerrard.

“Walter has been one of the greatest managers in Scottish history, so I didn’t feel pressure on me in that respect,” said Lennon.

“Why? Because the expectation wouldn’t have been for me getting anywhere near to him.

“In the end, we missed a penalty at Ibrox to go five points clear, and that would have been game, set and match.

“It would have been a hell of an achievement and, to be honest, that season still nags at me now as the one that got away.

“The pressure is different this time because you’re more experienced.

“You’re off the back of winning the Treble, playing a part in winning a Treble so everyone is going to be coming for you.

“It’s natural, we expect that. You want to be at the front.”

Lennon takes a similarly philosophical view to the fact some Rangers supporters publicly celebrated news of his appointment on social media.

“They have been wrong before – on numerous occasions,” he said.

“Hopefully, they will be wrong again.”