CELTIC captain Scott Brown has paid tribute to Neil Lennon and thanked his former manager for the impact he has had on his career.

Brown played under Lennon during both of the Northern Irishman’s spells at the helm of the club and has revealed he probably “wouldn’t still be Celtic captain” if not for Lennon.

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Celtic revealed this morning that Lennon had left his position at the club. Pressure had grown on him for a number of months from supporters due to poor results in Europe and a large gap at the top of the table, where Rangers are 18-points ahead.

Speaking to the Celtic website, Brown said: “Even after he left Celtic as manager the first time, we kept in contact all the way through, and it was great to see him come back.

Glasgow Times:

“It’s obviously a hard decision for him as well to leave the club that he loves and that he wants to do well. He always wanted Celtic to win week in, week out, whether he was manager or not.”

“It’s not been a great season to go down in our history books, but it’s one that we’ve got to take on the chin.

"We’ve got to start performing as well as we can for the remainder of the season. We keep saying that, but we need to try and get it done. We need to get back to winning ways, bring back the fans and bring back the pride in Celtic as well.

“Neil won another treble for us – he won the Quadruple Treble, which we picked up against Hearts, and he’s got great passion for the club.

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“He’s supported Celtic his whole life and he wanted to play for this club – he won a treble as a player, as well as a manager. He’s given 15-20 years to this club and he deserves respect, and also praise for what he’s done for the club and the success he brought us.

“I probably wouldn’t still be captain at Celtic if it wasn’t for Neil Lennon. He kept me on after Tony Mowbray left, and he was a breath of fresh air when he came in. He was great with the lads, and we were fighting for him because we wanted him to get the job, and eventually he did get it.”