Man City cost £930m, Chelsea were £266m but it's Lennon's budget Bhoys who are getting their kicks in Europe

By Brian Marjoribanks

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The cost of transforming Manchester City from mid-table mediocrities to English Premier League champions was an eye-watering £930million.

For all Sheik Mansour’s dizzying wealth at his disposal, however, manager Roberto Mancini has once again been unable to buy his way out of the cut-throat Champions League group stages.

European Champions Chelsea may be backed by Roman Abramovich’s seemingly limitless roubles but a 3-0 rout of their £266m starting XI in Juventus Stadium (not including £50m substitute Fernando Torres) now seems certain to cost them qualification and led to Roberto di Matteo’s sacking this week.

Flying high: Georgios Samaras and Celtic are succeeding in Europe where Man City failed and Chelsea flail

Flying high: Georgios Samaras and Celtic are succeeding in Europe where Man City failed and Chelsea flail

The unexpected plight of England’s two wealthiest clubs is such that suddenly Celtic’s Benfica blip, losing 2-1 in Lisbon, does not seem that bad after all; especially not for a team assembled for less than £12m.

How City and Chelsea would love to be in Celtic’s shoes for Matchday 6, while the added irony for those in the blue half of Manchester is that Celtic’s run has been achieved starring Etihad flop Georgios Samaras.

 

City’s Argentine defender Pablo Zabaleta expressed the feeling of many at his side’s dismal European showing by saying: ‘We are obviously disappointed. Now, the chance has gone and it’s hard to understand.

‘It’s the second year in a row that this has happened — it’s hard when you see the players that we have. We expected more. When you see the squad that we have, you want to try to go through to the next round.’

Yet Neil Lennon’s men can do just that by bettering Benfica’s result in Barcelona when Spartak Moscow come to Glasgow. And should Celtic achieve what former Scotland World Cup striker Alan Brazil would rate ‘a true Champions League miracle’, the Parkhead board best batten down the hatches.

Lennon’s exploits, he argues, are not going unnoticed in the oak-panelled boardrooms of the wealthiest league in the world.

‘For Celtic, on their modest budget, just to qualify for the group stages was a real bonus,’ said the former Parkhead youth player Brazil, who won the 1981 UEFA Cup with Ipswich and again in 1984 with Tottenham.

Kept out: Chelsea tumbled to defeat in Turin

Kept out: Chelsea tumbled to defeat in Turin

Failures: Man City were knocked out after a 1-1 draw with Madrid

Failures: Man City were knocked out after a 1-1 draw with Madrid

‘But if Lenny takes them through then he will go down in Celtic history as a true miracle worker. He’s already the talk of many boardrooms down south. As we’ve seen with di Matteo, and we could soon see too with Mancini, rich owners only care about results.

‘And there’s a few been looking up at Celtic this season and thinking “how on earth is Neil Lennon achieving where Man City and Chelsea are failing?”.

 

‘It’s not like Celtic were handed an easy group either. Few gave them a chance but they’ve been magnificent.

‘And so has Samaras, a player who I never had any time for at City and at Celtic initially too but he’s totally proved me wrong in Europe this season.

‘He’s been sensational away from home for Celtic and Victor Wanyama has been a real find. Wanyama wouldn’t look out of place at Chelsea but it’s Lenny who is the hottest property down in England right now.

‘Not even Martin O’Neill could take Celtic beyond the groups, and everyone knows how highly regarded he is.

‘But if Lenny manages it, he will be in high demand so Celtic fans should enjoy him and his team while they can.’

Brazil, a popular breakfast show host with talkSPORT, dispensed some valuable careers advice to Lennon over a few pints in a Glasgow bar after January’s 1-0 Old Firm win for Celtic at Parkhead.

He told Lennon to grow his hair and the Celtic manager has gone from angry-looking man to a more serene figure on the touchline as his reputation as a boss has soared.

‘I’m not taking the credit for what Neil is doing,’ chuckled Brazil. ‘But he did take my advice and he did let his hair grow a bit. When you have cropped hair you look more aggressive and sure enough, the new Neil looks calmness personified.

‘He’s still showing his passion for the game and still celebrating as wildly as ever — nothing wrong with that — but he looks less angry and more content with life. He’s a lovely fella, if you ever meet him in person, and his true personality is now shining through.

‘He’s a joy to watch now. But who wouldn’t be happy after beating Barca?’

In charge: Neil Lennon has a very well organised Celtic side

In charge: Neil Lennon has a very well organised Celtic side

Brazil was due to be a guest of Celtic for their win over Tito Vilanova’s La Liga giants but could not make it due to illness. He bitterly regrets missing out on a result that he claims has restored the credibility of Scottish football at the tail end of a dark year — especially to its many sneering detractors down south.

 

‘I’m sick of folk in London and Suffolk saying the SPL is as bad as the Welsh Premier League,’ Brazil protested. ‘But all that changed after Barcelona. Look at Man City toiling, look at Chelsea’s problems and there are Celtic beating the best team ever.

‘I saw Celtic play the great Leeds side in the 1970s, I’ve seen the most fabulous Ajax team at Hampden Park. I’ve played against Michel Platini, Johnny Rep, Zbigniew Boniek — but nothing comes close to Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Barca.

‘I was gutted to miss the game but it was maybe a blessing in disguise I wasn’t there because forget Rod Stewart — I was crying before the game.

‘I watched it in the house with my youngest daughter Stephanie. She’s 21, and she has an interview at Cambridge University next week. She wants to be a doctor and she was up studying in her room but I got her down and told her “come and watch Celtic. This is where I come from. This is what I’m about”.

‘When the fans were singing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ we turned the volume up and I thought my eardrums were going to burst.

‘It was so emotional I was crying and I wept tears of joy again at full-time. It really was quite incredible and Lenny is unlikely to top it in his whole management career.

‘But making the knockouts would come close and I really hope he makes the miracle happen.

‘They’ve every chance of doing it, too. For Celtic fans the dream goes on, and City and Chelsea fans can only look on in envy.’

 

 

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