Neil Lennon reveals how Celtic job helps him cope with depression

Yesterday marked Lennon's 100th day in one of the most demanding and potentially stressful jobs in football. Since his appointment was confirmed on 9 June, the 39-year-old has suffered the disappointment of elimination from two European tournaments but has also experienced the satisfaction of guiding Celtic to a perfect start to the new SPL season with four successive victories.

They are a combination of results capable of provoking significant mood swings and which Lennon admits have prompted him to indulge in some serious self-analysis. But he also feels the intensity of his job has reduced the possibility of him falling victim to the illness he so courageously went public about three years ago.

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"We all have crosses to bear in life and I have mine," said Lennon. "But being Celtic manager has actually been a help because it takes your mind off other things. I'm fully concentrated on football, which is the one thing I love.

"I haven't really changed that much since becoming manager. I analyse the performances and I analyse myself. When you have results like I've had against Ross County in the Scottish Cup last season and then Braga and Utrecht in Europe this season, you analyse them more closely. I do have that fear of failure, a real fear of letting people down.

"You can brush aside all the criticism you want, but you can't brush aside self-criticism. In that respect, I also had that as a player. You can't hide from yourself. So I analyse myself a wee bit more and beat myself up a wee bit more than I did before.

"The team is starting to take a wee bit more shape, but we are out of Europe and that will nag away at me for a while."

Lennon is wary of allowing the job to become completely all-consuming in his life but concedes he is finding it difficult to avoid.

"You do have to have your down time or you'd drive yourself mental," he added. "You have to try and switch off, but it's a very difficult thing to do. As soon as the final whistle went after we beat Hearts last week, I started thinking about our next game against Kilmarnock and what way we are going to set up.

"As manager, it becomes more apparent how priceless every victory is and how detrimental every defeat can be for Celtic.

"Listen, I would like to be in this job for a while, but I know I have to win things like I did as a player. That's what I'm trying to do.

"We've made a very good start in the SPL, but we're not getting complacent because I know just one game can change things.

"When you look back on what Gordon Strachan achieved here, it was tremendous really. Then you look at what Walter Smith has achieved at Rangers and you realise how far you have to go.

"It is a challenge in more ways than one.You've got to keep a lid on it, you can't get carried away. There is a lot of hysteria to it. It was the same as player. There is the feeling you experience in victory and the one in defeat. There are no grey areas.

"I deal with it by just concentrating on the next game and thinking about how we can be better as a team. I also watched Rangers the other night and started thinking about how I would try to break that system down, not that I think they would set up quite like that against us."

Following Celtic's early exit from Europe, Lennon will ultimately be judged this season on whether he can prevent Rangers winning a third successive SPL title. He believes the manner in which Smith's team secured a 0-0 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Tuesday was evidence of the size of the task facing him.

"Of course Rangers deserve more credit for that result," added Lennon.

"We'll see how many teams come away from Old Trafford with a 0-0 draw this season. I know Sir Alex Ferguson made ten changes, which I wish he'd done against us four years ago, but United still had world class players in their team.

"I don't know if Walter is going to adopt that approach every game. It might just be for specific games where he feels they are going to be under pressure a lot and I think that you can be going to Old Trafford.

"He gets this sort of reputation as being a negative manager but if you look at the players he has brought in this season, Weiss, Jelavic and Beattie, they are attacking players who will create more than destroy."

Smith complained that the financial structure of Champions League weighs heavily in the favour of the European superpowers but Lennon claims it was ever thus.

"It seems to be the bigger clubs benefit from the way the Champions League is set up but you know that before you go in to the competition and you can say that about a lot of sports," he said. "For instance, Wimbledon is set up for the top seeds.

"Overall, everyone wants to see the big performers play at the highest level, at the quarter-finals and semi-finals.

"The beauty of sport is that every now and again sport throws up the underdog who goes on to surprise everyone and you get a clubs who defy the odds, like Porto and Monaco.

"But I can understand why UEFA would do it, to make money."

Returning to Rangers' performance at Old Trafford, Lennon added: "Rangers were very disciplined, very concentrated and had some very good individual performances. It underlined how difficult it is going to be to get the championship back off Rangers this season. So, without looking beyond Kilmarnock this weekend, that's why I was thinking about how we could go about breaking them down and beat them when the time comes."

Lennon, who revealed Celtic have ended their interest in out of contract Nigerian defender Dan Shittu, will be without winger James Forrest for tomorrow's visit to Rugby Park. The 19-year-old has an ankle injury and is also likely to miss next Wednesday night's Co-operative Insurance Cup tie against Inverness.