Steven Pressley has revealed that Neil Lennon refused to shake his hand on the day that he signed for Celtic.
The former Scotland international moved to the Hoops from Hearts in 2006 and after winning the Scottish Cup with the club, he became the first player to have done so with three clubs.
Pressley has detailed how he was welcomed into the Celtic camp by all of the squad barring Lennon on his first day, but he puts that down to a personal "test".
He told the Daily Record: “On my first day, I got on the bus and was shaking hands with everyone. Neil Lennon refused to shake my hand. He was quite serious - it’s not as if he was playing around with me. I think Neil was one who liked to test you a little bit but we became good team-mates and I really like him.
“I saw a lot of things in Neil that I could see in myself, but he did that and I accepted it. We’d had some real battles, some words on the field of play. On one occasion, there had been a spitting incident involving Rudi Skacel and Neil and I think I defended Rudi to the hilt on that. And Neil wasn’t particularly happy with it!
“They had some big personalities. Chris Sutton used to tell me all the time that I’d be working until I was 70. He used to talk about his money a lot and how I’d still be working til I was 70 - he was actually quite right! When I look back at some of my behaviour on the pitch, some of the things I said to people, I really don’t like it.
“But it’s what I did on a Saturday. It’s like turning up at the theatre - you become a different character. That’s what I became. I actually gave myself the nickname of ‘The Daddy’ on the pitch. I used to tell the opposition: ‘I’m The Daddy’. I look back at that and think: 'Come on, Steven!'. But I did it to try to play with people’s minds and intimidate them. But I do cringe at some of the things I did.
“I was quite unpopular in football. I never pandered to supporters of clubs I’d played for previously. Dundee United fans hated me because I’d go up there and play the villain. I wouldn’t go looking for their adulation. I remember going back to Ibrox and they put the ball out for an injury. We gave them it back in the corner but I told our team to get up and press them in. It was only to get a reaction from my team, who I thought had been flat.
“But people just judge you on what you’re doing and it didn’t go down well at the time. I accept that people probably saw a different Steven Pressley, but I was different for that hour and a half. Most players at the end of their career, if they go into coaching there are always openings within their former clubs.
“Well, when I went back to Dundee United with Hearts, the Dundee United fans resented me. The Hearts fans resent me and when you’ve been to Rangers and Celtic, they don’t particularly like you, so my ‘ins’ to football clubs aren’t particularly good! It’s probably another reason I stayed in England!”
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