Celtic supporters have not taken kindly to Nicholas’ remarks
Celtic fans have rounded on Charlie Nicholas after their former player’s comments on Neil Lennon and Martin O’Neill.
Lennon played for O’Neill at Leicester City, and followed his manager to Glasgow in December 2000.
They went on to win several trophies together at the club, and reached the 2003 UEFA Cup Final. Lennon is now in his second spell as Celtic manager, and on Sunday completed a historic quadruple treble with a Scottish Cup Final win over Hearts.
Despite those significant achievements, Nicholas has contrasted the pair unfavourably with both Jock Stein and Brendan Rodgers.
Speaking in the Express, Nicholas said: “Neil Lennon made history by completing the quadruple treble but it doesn’t put him up there with true Celtic managerial greats Jock Stein and Brendan Rodgers.
“But I would also say the same about Martin O’Neill. Martin signed some world-class players and also inherited a few, such as Henrik Larsson.
“He brought in big players and Celtic were paying them fortunes.
“Reaching the 2003 UEFA Cup Final in Seville was fantastic but I never saw Martin as a true great. Lennon is a bit like that.
“I absolutely applaud his achievements in winning a treble as a player and a boss but, on the managerial front, his triumphs have come at a time when the title races weren’t overly competitive.
“In fact, if he had lost any of them he would have been out of a job.
“Lennon is not up there with the greatest in Jock Stein and I would go as far as to say he hasn’t delivered what Rodgers did either.”
Those comments have gone down about as well as you might expect with Celtic fans.
Nicholas scored 127 goals in 254 games for Celtic across two spells with the club, and until recently was working as a Sky Sports pundit.
Neil Lennon’s men return to league duty on Wednesday night when they face Ross County at Celtic Park.
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