Ex-England striker Darren Bent has revealed Neil Lennon phoned him up after he said he'd rather play for Steven Gerrard than the Celtic boss.

Bent, 35, labelled Lennon an "old school manager" during an interview with Football Insider earlier this year.

The hit man was asked who he'd prefer to play under and, after choosing Rangers manager Steven Gerrard, he clarified that Lennon was more "old school" than new gaffer Gerrard.

But the Hoops manager didn't take too kindly to the comments, as Bent explained on Soccer AM.

He said: "I said something about Neil Lennon.

"The question was something like, who’d you rather play for, Celtic under Neil Lennon or Rangers under Steven Gerrard?

"At the time I said Steven Gerrard.

"I know Steven Gerrard more than I know Neil Lennon, he’s an up-and-coming manager whereas Neil Lennon is an old school-type manager.

"He obviously didn’t like it because he phoned me up.

"I got a phone call and someone said, ‘Neil Lennon wants your phone number, do you mind?’

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"I was like, ‘No,’ but even then I didn’t know what was coming. 

"At first I’m thinking, I wonder if I’m going to get a move to Celtic, here.

"He just wanted me to clarify my comments.

"What I meant by saying like an old school-type manager was that he’d been managing longer than Steven Gerrard and that Steven Gerrard was on the way up.

"He was asking me what my thoughts were and he was trying to fill me in on Celtic and Scottish football."

He added: "I wasn't disrespectful to him I just said what I thought about playing for him or Steven Gerrard."