OPINION
If Neil Lennon’s job at Celtic rests on him delivering the Premiership (convincingly) and the Scottish Cup, he took a huge step towards being given the permanent job he would love after his side’s emphatic 3-0 win against Aberdeen on Sunday.
The semi-final on Sunday was supposed to be a big potential banana skin but Lennon’s men swatted their opponents aside thanks, in part to two red cards, the first in the 36th minute for Dom Ball.
It was 0-0 at the time but Celtic went in a goal up after James Forrest scored in first-half stoppage time.
It was always going to be uphill from there and Odsonne Edouard killed off Aberdeen with a 61st-minute penalty before Lewis Ferguson got his marching orders too.
It leaves Celtic on the verge of an unprecedented treble treble, but Lennon hasn’t had a whole lot to do with that. And there have to be question marks over him on two fronts.
The first is his style of football. He hasn’t lost a game since he took over from Rodgers, but he’s drawn two from six league games, against Aberdeen and Livingston, and the football has been far from convincing.
In Rodgers’ final game Celtic scored four against Motherwell. They haven’t scored more than two in the league since and the 1-0 win against Dundee and the 0-0 with Livingston in particular were difficult to watch. Lennon plays more direct than Rodgers and it’s not what the fans are used to.
Winning is important but so is the manner in which you do it. Jose Mourinho was criticised for playing dour football at Man United and we all know how that ended up.
In Lennon’s defence, he’s come in towards the tail-end of the season and he’s still getting used to Rodgers’ side. And, he’s showed he’s willing to mix things up.
The second question mark – and it’s a big one – has to be over the squad rebuilding in the summer. With the Rangers project coming along and next season promising a real tussle for the title, Celtic must rebuild, strengthen and they could need major surgery. Has Lennon got the nous to build a side that can take Celtic forward in Europe? We’re not so sure about this.
On his side is his passion and knowledge of the club. No one wants ten-in-a-row more than Lennon but is that enough? Time will tell, but the Celtic board need to find the answers to our two questions and make the right decision – there’s a lot riding on it.