WRITE STUFF: LENNY NAMED TOP BOSS

NEIL LENNON has been named the Scottish Football Writers Association Manager of the Year for a third time.

The Irishman was awarded the honour in 2011/12 and 2012/13 during his first spell with the club and he has now completed a coveted hat-trick.

Lennon, of course, returned to the Hoops hot seat in February last year following the swift departure of Brendan Rodgers to Leicester City.

The comeback gaffer hit the ground running and led the team to their eighth successive title and the Scottish Cup, He followed that up this time around with the Betfred League Cup and guided the side to a 13-point advantage with only eight games to go when football went into cold storage in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The SPFL hierarchy awarded the Parkhead club their ninth championship in a row and Lennon is now focused on the history-making tenth in the forthcoming campaign.

With the SFA still insisting the Scottish Cup will be completed at some stage before the turn of the year, the Bhoys could still pick up a phenomenal quadruple treble during a sequence of unprecedented domestic dominance.

Lennon takes the title from Scotland international head coach Steve Clarke, who had won for the last two seasons while doing so well with Kilmarnock.

Motherwell’s Stephen Robinson, Livingston’s Gary Holt and veteran Arbroath gaffer Dick Campbell were also in the running.

Aston Villa’s John McGinn, who came close to joining the Hoops in the summer of 2018 from Hibs, was named the Scotland international Player of the Year.

The 25-year-old midfielder beat Celtic double-act of Callum McGregor and Ryan Christie with Hearts’ Steven Naismith also getting a mention.