Sky Sports pundit Kris Commons has claimed that Peter Lawwell, Dermot Desmond and the Celtic fans would all agree that Neil Lennon is the best man for the manager’s job at Parkhead right now.
Lennon has been in interim charge of the Bhoys since Brendan Rodgers quit to join Leicester in February and is on the verge of completing the club’s aim of winning three domestic trebles in a row.
Although the 0-0 draw with Hibernian wasn’t the best of results on Sunday, Commons is adamant that the Celtic chiefs and the fanbase would say that Lennon is the best man for the job.
However he believes that there are signs that Lennon will not be staying on past the end of this season.
“I think if Peter Lawwell and Dermot Desmond and the Celtic supporters got together and said ‘we need to do it now’, I think Neil Lennon would be the right man to do it,” said Commons after the match on Sky Sports Football on Sunday [02:39pm].
“But the fact that they’ve not done it just yet is leaving that doubt, that question – are they looking for somebody else?
“And that’s the only concern at the minute because Neil, I think if he got the job he would start tweaking bits here and there. I think because he’s not got the job, he just wants to keep [things are they are].”
OPINION
Commons definitely has a point here. If Celtic were going to hire Lennon, would they have already done that? Even though he has inherited a squad that was stuck in it’s ways under Rodgers, he has done a decent job to be fair to him. The Bhoys have not been at their best this season, and it’s not like they have gotten any worse since Lennon has taken charge. Once he has a summer transfer window he could mould that squad into one that he wants and he could definitely deliver 10 titles in a row to the Celtic supporters. The only concern that the board might have with Lennon is that he was sacked by Hibernian at the start of this year and Paul Heckingbottom has done a good job since taking over there. They might also want a more attractive name in charge of the club so they can lure in top-quality players. Even though Rangers are still miles behind, they have attracted better players since Steven Gerrard took charge of them. Celtic also attracted better players when Rodgers came in and replaced Ronny Deila. Lennon might be a backwards step when it comes to reputation outside of the walls of Celtic Park, but everyone inside the club, deep down, knows he’s the best man for the job.