Dunfermline's ascent gains momentum as Neil Lennon tells Pars to seize chances when they come
East End Park outfit ready for shot at glory against champions
Neil Lennon and Dunfermline Athletic could have been the briefest of couplings. The Northern Irishman was parachuted into East End Park in March last year on a short-term deal until the end of the season with one mission – keep the club in the Championship.
Both manager and club had lost their way when they were shoved together awkwardly like two teenagers at a school disco. Lennon was looking to rebound from a fairly miserable three-month stint at Rapid Bucharest in Romania. Dunfermline, similarly, were toiling in ninth place, had just sacked Michael Tidser and were facing up to the very real prospect of having to scrap for their survival via the playoffs.
Lennon, though, was typically bullish and spoke of a vision to “excite supporters and get the players believing in what we're doing.” He immediately added a touch of pizazz by persuading Victor Wanyama, the former Celtic, Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder, to join the cause.
It was a bold, power-stance move but one that quickly backfired. Wanyama’s high-profile debut ended in him being sent off as Dunfermline were thrashed 3-0 by Ayr United. The extent of the challenge awaiting Lennon had been laid bare but he and his players did not shirk from it, securing safety with a game to spare. It wasn’t pretty – Dunfermline scored just twice and conceded only once across their next five games – but it got the job done.
Chances are club and manager would have parted ways had the team dropped into League One but this was an appointment made with a view to the longer term. You don’t recruit a manager as experienced and, presumably, expensive as Lennon just to oversee a firefighting job. Even in the depths of a miserable sequence of results, Dunfermline’s new American owners had the foresight to reach out to appoint someone of substance who could match and deliver on their ambition.
A two-year deal was offered and accepted, giving Lennon a platform to construct something more lasting and meaningful. “Sleeping giant” is a bit of a cliché but there was little doubt that a club the size of Dunfermline, from a city of more than 50,000 people, had capacity and potential to grow.
Lennon balks now at the idea that his managerial career was in need of reviving after trying times at Omonia in Cyprus and in Bucharest but admits there was intrigue at the thought of leading a Dunfermline renaissance.
“I don't know about needing to be reinvigorated because I’ve always had the energy,” he says. “My last stint was a short one in Bucharest but before that I won the cup in Cyprus, got into the Europa League and played against Man United.
“So, I hadn't really lost my appetite for it but this one was a bit leftfield in terms of where they were and what the idea behind it was. It was something different. I knew it was a big-ish club and I spoke to the owners three or four times before I took it. And I haven't regretted one minute of it. I've really enjoyed it.”
‘The acid test’ against Celtic
The Championship, though, can be the most demanding of divisions. Dunfermline were competitive throughout but were beaten to the tape by champions, St Johnstone, and then in the playoffs by Partick Thistle.
It is the Scottish Cup, then, that has brought them most joy this season. If they benefited from the luck of the draw to land four successive home ties, then they have made the most of it, defeating Queen of the South, Hibernian, Kelty Hearts and then, most impressively, Aberdeen 3-0 in the quarter-finals. And when the goals dried up in a fraught semi-final derby with Falkirk, they held their nerve to progress via a penalty shootout.
That success brings them back to Hampden this afternoon where Celtic will stand in Dunfermline’s way as they look to land just a third ever Scottish Cup and a first since 1968. Lennon had cut an emotional figure at the semi-final – his father, Gerry, had passed away a few months before – but insists he will be clear-eyed and focused for this meeting with mentor, Martin O’Neill.
“It was amazing walking out at Old Trafford with a Cypriot team,” he added. “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. But I'll be fine. That was emotional [at the semi-final] as I didn't think [getting back to Hampden] would happen. Now it's happened so I'm over that. It's just focusing on the game and winning.”
Celtic will start as massive favourites but Lennon is not without hope that, just 14 months into this Dunfermline project, it could be he and his players lifting the trophy.
“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. I don't overflow them with information. We do snippets of analysis, 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. But they're not a super team. They are a very good team, but they're not a super team, and they're fallible, and they have weaknesses. And hopefully we can capitalise on that.”
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