Former Celtic manager Martin O’Neill was recently relieved of his duties at Sunderland. O’Neill lasted just over a year at the Stadium of light with many questioning his ability to manage a top club once again. Celtic manager Neil Lennon’s career has largely shaped by O’Neill, and he has paid a glowing tribute to his manager. It was not long ago that O’Neill created a revolution at Aston Villa and became extremely close to helping the club win a major title. However, things have gone wrong for the former Leicester City manager, as he has been unable to inspire his Sunderland team for large parts of his stay at the club.
He was recently replaced by Paolo Di Canio after poor results meant that Sunderland were just a few points about the relegation zone. Lennon, though, believes that this will not be the end of O’Neill’s management career because he is sure that he will return to his former glory. This was the first management job that has accepted by O’Neill after leaving Aston Villa a few years ago. Lennon also congratulated the new manager Di Canio by saying that he deserves a chance after doing extremely well at Swindon.
Di Canio helped Swindon achieve impressive results during his short stay at the club.
“I was surprised by Martin’s sacking – but nothing should surprise me in football now. I was obviously very disappointed for him but no one will be more disappointed than the man himself [though] he’ll take a philosophical view on it. He’s one of the most experienced managers around and I’m not sure he’ll be out of the game too long, there will be plenty of suitors. He’ll be hurting for a short period of time and he’ll probably take time out. But I’m hoping he’ll come again,” said Lennon.