Partick Thistle manager Mark Wilson says there’ll be “no nostalgia” when he faces his old captain and manager, Neil Lennon, in this week’s Premiership play-off semi-final with Dunfermline Athletic.
The first leg is in Fife on Tuesday before the decisive second game at Firhill on Friday, with both live on BBC Scotland.
Wilson admits he had “some of the best years of my life” with Lennon as his skipper at Celtic before the Northern Irish international then coached the right-back at Parkhead when he took over from Tony Mowbray.
“I’ve fond memories,” Wilson told BBC Sport Scotland when asked about his time together at Celtic with Lennon.
“I had some of the best years of my life there when Neil was captain. A really strong individual who demands the highest standards. I had him when he was a reserve coach as well.
“I then saw him make that progression, saw the pressure landed on his shoulders as a rookie manager taking one of the biggest teams in the world and how he dealt with that.”
The effect Lennon’s leadership had on Wilson as a Celtic player isn’t lost on the Partick boss either, although he’s keen to stress the pair are now equals in opposing technical areas.
“I played some of my best football under Neil,” he said. “I enjoyed working with him. So I understand the information he’ll be giving his boys and how he can build players up to the standards he holds.
“He’s done an incredible job with Dunfermline. Getting to a Scottish Cup final with a Championship club is no mean feat. That takes some doing.
“He’s a tough opponent to come up against but these two games are not about nostalgia, about me being one of Neil’s ex-players or anything like that. My job now is a coach, I’m his equal, I need to find a way to beat him and that’s what my full concentration is on.”
One way to do that, according to Wilson, is to make sure his side are firmly in the tie when the sides return home for the second leg.
The Jags boast three wins and a draw from their four games with the Pars in the regular Championship season but Wilson knows the slate is wiped clean when a crack at the Premiership is on the line.
He is also well aware of the strides his own side has made since the early days of his tenure when he was scratching around trying to put a team together.
“When I was appointed, just to paint the picture clearly, we had no goalkeepers, we had no full-backs, we had no striker, we had a very bare midfield,” he explained.
“We had a lot of young kids. We had a couple of centre-halves in there, we had a couple of wingers. People within the club thought it was going to be a long, hard season.
“So to build a squad and bring players in, there’s no doubt about it, we’re ahead of where we probably should be. Now that we’re here, though, we want to get better.
“I want to have that continuity going into next season, regardless of what division we’re in. We’re in a strong position and we plan to really attack next season whether that’s in the Premiership or the Championship.”
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