QUIZ question. Name the man who has made six debuts for Celtic against Rangers. Sort of.
After Sunday, the answer will be Neil Lennon if you count up how many times he ‘first’ played, captained, coached and managed in a fixture this Northern Irishman has always loved.
Okay, we might be stretching it a teeny bit; however, the timeline of Lennon’s firsts gives a fairly accurate description of his own personal highs and lows in what remains football’s greatest rivalry.
Here are five games when in various guises it has been Lennon's first chance in a new role to put one over the old enemy. Warning. This contains nine red cards.
DEBUT AS A PLAYER
February 7, 2001, League Cup semi-final
Celtic 3 Rangers 1
Martin O’Neill’s first season saw him win a treble plus four Old Firm games, including this one.
An early Chris Sutton goal was followed up by Henrik Larsson lobbing Stefan Klos.
Jorg Albertz scored a penalty to make it 2-1 at half-time, then Larsson made sure of a place in the final with a spot-kick of his own.
It all kicked off in the final minute after a shocking challenge by Claudio Reyna on Bobby Petta which earned the American a red card. Almost every player piled in to have their say, with Lennon right in the middle. Michael Molls and Lubo Moravcik got sent off. There could have probably should have been a lot more.
DEBUT AS CAPTAIN
August 20, 2005, Premier League
Rangers 3 Celtic 1
Gordon Strachan’s first weeks as Celtic manager were anything but easy.
Alan Thompson was sent off after 23 minutes and after the final whistle, Lennon, who led his team out at Ibrox for the first time, was red carded by for jostling referee Stuart Dougal and assistant James Bee. He was given a three-match ban.
Between that, Celtic’s defence gifted Dado Prso and Thomas Buffel a goal each. Shaun Maloney scored with a late penalty but then Rangers got a penalty of their own which Nacho Novo converted.
DEBUT AS COACH
April 16, 2008, Premier League
Celtic 2 Rangers 1
This so happened to be one of biggest nights for the Celtic supporters for the last 20 years.
The league looked gone, which is why Strachan brought back Lennon as his right hand man, and this first of two Old Firm games in 10 days had to be won.
Shunsuke Nakamura scored a superb goal, which was wiped out by Novo after the break.
Celtic won a penalty when Carlos Cueller stopped Nakamura from scoring with his hand, he was sent off, and Scott McDonald missed from 12 yards. Then with seconds to go, Jan Venegoor of Hesselink headed in a precious goal which kept Celtic in a title race they would go on to win.
A melee insured after the final whistle and David Weir and Gary Caldwell managed to get themselves a red card each.
DEBUT AS INTERIM MANAGER
May 4, 2010, Premier League
Celtic 2 Rangers 1
At the time, Lennon felt his period as interim manager wouldn't last long, this was the penultimate game of the season, after being charge when his team lost a semi-final to Ross County.
If this was to be his only Old Firm game as manager then he wanted to win. And he did.
Lee Naylor scored a bizarre goal from 40 yards out after eight minutes before Kenny Miller headed an equaliser two minutes before half-time. However, there was still time in the half for Marc-Antione Fortune to score.
In the final minute, you guessed it, there was a red card when Rangers’ Lee McCulloch was cautioned for a second time.
DEBUT AS MANAGER
October 24, 2010, Premier League
Celtic 1 Rangers 3
Lennon had landed his dream job but this was a nightmare derby for him.
Celtic went in at half-time 1-0 ahead through Gary Hooper. But the second-half went very much the way of Rangers.
A Glenn Loovens own-goal made it 1-1, Kenny Miller scored a sensational volley before securing the points with a penalty. This was the last time Rangers won at Celtic Park. Even more incredible is that nobody got sent off.
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