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Plenty of people are keen to take potshots at Scottish football these days, but Tommy Wright reckons Neil Lennon will prove doubters on both sides of the border wrong.
The St Johnstone boss believes his good friend will be a success at Championship strugglers Bolton, the club where Wright himself finished his own playing career, and reckons the ex-Celtic manager’s stock will continue to rise in his new role at the Reebok Stadium.
Many pundits, particularly those based south of the border, have cast doubt on Lennon’s managerial ability after Celtic strolled to title after title in what many perceived to be a non-competitive league, but Wright insists his fellow Northern Irishman deserves more credit.
“I just think Scottish football in general is under-rated,” he told Courier Sport.
“Everybody is too quick to point out the negatives in it, but I see some terrible (English) Premier League games on TV.
“Maybe people down south would have looked at it and thought Celtic have to win the league each year, but on the other side of it you need to be a strong personality to manage Celtic or Rangers.
“His Champions League record is great, to keep them qualifying, and I think that was maybe a concern of his that resources were being cut and it was making Champions League qualification more difficult.
“So he’s probably made the right move for him at the right time.
“I don’t know if he was panicking or not about whether he would get back into the game or not, but I think he’s been patient and he’s waited.
“And I think he’ll look at the challenge of it, the fact that Bolton are bottom of the league.
“He’s got a different set of problems to deal with and I think that will be the main attraction of the job.
“If he takes somebody in the middle of the Championship and keeps them there, where do you go?
“But the potential is there at Bolton to progress, and the potential is – because they’ve proved it in the past – that they can be a good Premier League club.”
Wright, of course, has had experience of European football in recent seasons with St Johnstone and therefore reckons Lennon’s achievements in helping Celtic to reach the heights they have done in recent seasons should not be overlooked.
“Champions League is tough for Celtic and Europe is tough for Scottish clubs because there is a vast gulf in budgets,” he explained.
“I know people say budgets shouldn’t come into it but they do.
“Celtic come up against teams where one player’s wage bill is probably the whole of Celtic’s wage bill.
“So I think it’s a great appointment for him. He’ll go in and he’ll lift the place.
“He’s a huge personality as well as a very good manager, so I think his personality alone will give the place a lift.
“Bolton is a club I finished at and they’ve done tremendously well in the years they were in the Premier League.
“They have the potential if they get everything right in terms of on and off the pitch to get back there.
“So you would class them as a good solid Premier League club, they’ve got the potential to get back to that and that’s obviously the attraction of the job for Neil.
“He’s got a club that had Premier League pedigree but he’ll have to deal with the situation they are in at the minute.
“I think he’s the type of character that will go in there and make a difference.”
Lennon had been linked with the vacant post at Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Ittihad but, aside from the fact the weather might have caused someone of Lennon’s complexion a few practical problems, Wright was not surprised to see him find a job in the UK.
“I think if that was going to be done that would have been done, but I think his first choice would have been to stay in England or get a job in England,” he concluded.
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The St Johnstone boss believes his good friend will be a success at Championship strugglers Bolton, the club where Wright himself finished his own playing career, and reckons the ex-Celtic manager’s stock will continue to rise in his new role at the Reebok Stadium.
Many pundits, particularly those based south of the border, have cast doubt on Lennon’s managerial ability after Celtic strolled to title after title in what many perceived to be a non-competitive league, but Wright insists his fellow Northern Irishman deserves more credit.
“I just think Scottish football in general is under-rated,” he told Courier Sport.
“Everybody is too quick to point out the negatives in it, but I see some terrible (English) Premier League games on TV.
“Maybe people down south would have looked at it and thought Celtic have to win the league each year, but on the other side of it you need to be a strong personality to manage Celtic or Rangers.
“His Champions League record is great, to keep them qualifying, and I think that was maybe a concern of his that resources were being cut and it was making Champions League qualification more difficult.
“So he’s probably made the right move for him at the right time.
“I don’t know if he was panicking or not about whether he would get back into the game or not, but I think he’s been patient and he’s waited.
“And I think he’ll look at the challenge of it, the fact that Bolton are bottom of the league.
“He’s got a different set of problems to deal with and I think that will be the main attraction of the job.
“If he takes somebody in the middle of the Championship and keeps them there, where do you go?
“But the potential is there at Bolton to progress, and the potential is – because they’ve proved it in the past – that they can be a good Premier League club.”
Wright, of course, has had experience of European football in recent seasons with St Johnstone and therefore reckons Lennon’s achievements in helping Celtic to reach the heights they have done in recent seasons should not be overlooked.
“Champions League is tough for Celtic and Europe is tough for Scottish clubs because there is a vast gulf in budgets,” he explained.
“I know people say budgets shouldn’t come into it but they do.
“Celtic come up against teams where one player’s wage bill is probably the whole of Celtic’s wage bill.
“So I think it’s a great appointment for him. He’ll go in and he’ll lift the place.
“He’s a huge personality as well as a very good manager, so I think his personality alone will give the place a lift.
“Bolton is a club I finished at and they’ve done tremendously well in the years they were in the Premier League.
“They have the potential if they get everything right in terms of on and off the pitch to get back there.
“So you would class them as a good solid Premier League club, they’ve got the potential to get back to that and that’s obviously the attraction of the job for Neil.
“He’s got a club that had Premier League pedigree but he’ll have to deal with the situation they are in at the minute.
“I think he’s the type of character that will go in there and make a difference.”
Lennon had been linked with the vacant post at Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Ittihad but, aside from the fact the weather might have caused someone of Lennon’s complexion a few practical problems, Wright was not surprised to see him find a job in the UK.
“I think if that was going to be done that would have been done, but I think his first choice would have been to stay in England or get a job in England,” he concluded.
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