The untold O'Neill vs Lennon spat as dressing room witness claims furious boss 'tried to strangle' his protege

Former Leicester City star Tony Cottee has sensationally claimed Martin O'Neill was "trying to strangle" Neil Lennon as a dressing room argument escalated into a heated confrontation.

The Irish pair have enjoyed a bond which has lasted four decades with O'Neill signing the Lurgan-born midfielder for Leicester before splashing out £6m to take him to Glasgow as he revolutionised Celtic during five seasons. But the pair – who retain a close relationship to this day – haven't always been on best terms according to former England international Cottee.

And he has opened up on the time he claims he witnessed O'Neill grabbing Lennon before members of the Leicester City squad had to step in. Speaking on the Let me Frank podcast, he said: “I came into the dressing room at half time once and Martin was trying to strangle Neil Lennon. They were having a proper row. We all pulled the manager off of Lenny – it never got to the fight stage because he was too busy trying to strangle him.

"We had very strong characters and that was how it was. Lenny went on to become a very successful manager for Celtic and he learned a lot from Martin without a doubt.”

But the pair had more ups and downs an Cottee told of a funny one-liner the pair shared in Glasgow. He laughed: “I remember a story from their time at Celtic and Lenny dyed his hair white. When he went in Martin said ‘what are you thinking?’ Lenny said that he was just trying to be different. To which Martin replied: “How about scoring a goal, that’s different.”