GER KIDDING
Neil Lennon ‘only won trophies at Celtic because Rangers didn’t exist’
An astonishing claim has been made after the manager was sacked in Romania
FORMER Dinamo Bucharest boss and Romania No.2 Eugen Neagoe has claimed Neil Lennon only won trophies at Celtic because Rangers 'didn't exist.'
Lennon left Rapid Bucharest this week after just 92 days following five draws and a defeat in his first six league games as manager.
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The former Celtic player and manager has come under heavy fire in Romania for his stint at the club, with Rapid moving quickly to replace him with former player and boss Marius Sumudica.
And veteran managerial stalwart Neagoe - who has been in charge of eight clubs in Romania including Cluj and Universitatea Craiova too and also had a stint in Cyprus with Aris Limassol - slaughtered the Northern Irishman, who won ten trophies as Hoops boss.
He said: "I predicted Lennon wouldn't last four games because he knows nothing about Romanian football. He actually managed for six.
"Look, hats off to him for the trophies he won in his career, but remember he won them when Rangers didn't exist. Celtic were playing alone in the Scottish league.
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"He was the manager of Omonia Nicosia before he came to Rapid and I played there during my career.
"I was told by a former colleague of mine that they were all disappointed with what happened there while Lennon was the manager.
"Rapid were playing so poorly under him. In fact, I haven't seen Rapid playing so poorly for a long time."
Rapid president Dan Sucu revealed after the manager's sacking that he stands by the club's decision to appoint a "foreign coach".
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He said: "We had a number of discussions to get to know each other's points of view. I explained to [Sumudica], that it is our first option, in the situation we want the manager to be a Romanian coach.
"But, indeed, we also had the option to try a foreign coach.
"We tried it, we saw it, we reached the conclusion you know, and then, we returned to our first option.
"We thought it was good that our first option, and our first desire as a coach, was available, and he wanted to come and train quickly."
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