Lennon’s got pre-season licked

Jun 2 2012 by Paul Behan, Paisley Daily Express

DANNY Lennon isn’t known for painting the town red – but that’s exactly what he’s doing at St Mirren’s Ralston training HQ.

The hard-working Saints boss has swapped his manager’s suit for overalls and recruited two jobseekers to help his end-of-season DIY project.

And Danny’s hoping it won’t be his only brush with success.

Lennon decided to ring the changes in order to give the first-team players a visual boost when they return from their summer holidays.

Now it’s hoped that with the new colour scheme in place, Lennon’s Buddies will have pre-season training licked.

Lennon said last night: “I did a couple of walls in the first-team restaurant myself. Now I have a couple of boys helping me. But you know me, I like to muck in!

“In fact, I’ve been painting every other day this week.”

Even at former club Cowdenbeath, Lennon wasn’t shy in rolling up his sleeves and getting stuck in.

And, on more than one occasion, he’d be spotted cutting the grass at Central Park.

Since his arrival in Paisley two years ago, Lennon’s work ethic has not diminished and he’ll continue to work to the max in order to get the very best from his band of Buddies.

Lennon said: “I’ve done two walls in the restaurant, two walls in the gym and one in the dressing room.

“But we also have a couple of guys coming in from Jobseekers, David and Michael, and they are terrific young boys.

“So we’re getting a bit of craic and we’re just trying to freshen things up before the players come back and then it’s a case of ‘here we go again’.

“It’s all about finding out how we raise the standards at the club on and off the field. Well, we’ve already started!”

Lennon, though, will get his reward for all his hard work and effort as he begins his summer vacation next week. But the Buddies boss admitted that with new players to recruit, he won’t be totally downing tools.

He said: “I will still have the phone with me, so I’ll be getting all the business done in the morning before my family get out of their beds.

“I’m looking forward to recharging my batteries and looking forward to switching off, but, as a manager, I know that will never quite be 100 per cent.”