Neil Lennon insists his Dunfermline team will show no fear as they bid to defy the odds and cause a huge Scottish Cup shock against Celtic at Hampden this afternoon.
With Dunfermline seeking to win the trophy for the first time since 1968, Lennon has been in a punchy mood in the build-up to the showpiece occasion.
Despite the odds being stacked against the Championship side, Lennon has dismissed any notion of this being a fairytale occasion against his old club and former manager in Martin O’Neill.
Insisting he only cares about winning, the Pars boss is confident his team can cause problems for a Celtic side he believes are ‘fallible’.
Celtic won the league title against Hearts last weekend and, despite all the chaos and acrimony around the club, could yet finish the season with a domestic double. But Lennon believes there is a weakness in Celtic his team can expose, saying: ‘I don’t do fairytales. I do reality.
‘It’s like everything in life. Mike Tyson used to say everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. That’s what the players are going to experience on Saturday.
Neil Lennon will take on his former Leicester and Celtic boss Martin O’Neill at Hampden
‘I don’t overload them with information. We do snippets of analysis, we do snippets of tactical work, and then we trust them to go out and play the game, play what’s in front of them.
‘There are going to be spells in the game where we’re not going to see the ball, or we’re going to be under pressure, we’re going to suffer, and that’s okay.
‘That’s okay because that’s what Celtic do to you. They’re not a super team. They are a very good team.
‘But they’re not a super team. They’re fallible, and they have weaknesses, and hopefully we can capitalise on that.’
Lennon took charge of Dunfermline last season with the immediate remit of firefighting and steering the club clear of relegation.
This season saw them challenge for promotion before being ultimately pipped by Partick Thistle in the play-offs. But a series of giant-killings in the Scottish Cup has already seen them beat three Premiership teams in Aberdeen, Hibs and Falkirk to reach the final.
Admitting that things have gone quicker than he could have imagined, Lennon reflected on his journey over the past 12 months.
‘We are well ahead of schedule,’ he said. ‘I don’t know about the job reinvigorating me because I’ve always had the energy.
Dunfermline have beaten three top-flight sides on their way to a remarkable Scottish Cup final
‘My last stint in management was a short one in Bucharest. But before that I won the cup in Cyprus, got into the Europa League, played against Man United. So that was a great experience for a year.
‘I hadn’t really lost my appetite for it but this one was a bit left-field in terms of where they were and what was the idea behind it. It was something different.
‘Whereas you’re used to full-on having to win all the time, we’ve organically built this team and then it’s win, win, win, win, win. We’ve changed it very, very quickly, and the players have bought into that as well.
‘It was amazing walking out at Old Trafford with a Cypriot team. Now I’m walking out at Hampden with a Dunfermline team, who, when we took over, were ninth in the championship. And now we’re playing Celtic. So it doesn’t get any better and any bigger than this for me or my players.
‘It’s the acid test, if you want to call it that. They’re going to get pushed like they haven’t been pushed before. They’re going to get tested like they haven’t been tested before.
‘Winning games isn’t easy and winning trophies isn’t easy. So I’ve never ever taken anything I’ve done for granted in my career, because I know how difficult it is to get there, first of all.
‘People say it’s easy because you’re Celtic, but everybody wants to beat you, and the flip side of it that I learned at Leicester. When you go to Old Trafford and you play against Keane and Giggs and Beckham and that, you want to raise your game subconsciously.
‘That’s the challenge for the players. I have loved it since I took the job here. The fans have been brilliant with us as well.’
On the need for his players to stay calm and not be overawed by the occasion, Lennon added: ‘As a young lad, I played in a play-off final with Crewe at Wembley. It was my first time and I just got dead excited and caught up in all the hullabaloo. And I went out and played very poorly.
‘We lost on penalties and I thought to myself: “God, if I ever get the opportunity to do it again, it’ll never happen like that again”. So, when I got back with Leicester in the play-off final in 1996, I played brilliantly. That, for me, was a real learning experience.
Lennon says he will draw on big-game experience like taking on Erik ten Hag’s Manchester Utd
‘I’m trying to pass that on to my boys now. And to be fair, in the semi-final they handled it really well, so I’m hoping that that’s a lesson for them to learn for the final.’
Lennon spoke about some of the iconic figures to feature in Dunfermline’s history both as players and managers, such as Sir Alex Ferguson and Jock Stein.
He is still in contact with Ferguson and revealed that the legendary boss, who played for the Pars in the 60s, passes on the odd nugget of wisdom.
‘We invited him to the final as a guest of honour but unfortunately he can’t make it,’ said Lennon. ‘But yeah, he rings me every once in a while.
‘He comes up once a month to see family and friends, and then he gives me a call. I haven’t had a chance to actually catch up with him, but he’s always in good form.
‘He tells me he talks about his time at Dunfermline, and he’s obviously really pleased with the way things have gone.’
