OPINION
Celtic look well on their way to a third successive treble winning campaign – all despite losing their manager halfway through the season.
Brendan Rodgers’ departure for Leicester City rocked Parkhead and left many wondering what sort of direction the club would pursue in terms of the next man in charge.
As it turns out, they went for a tried and tested option in the form of Neil Lennon – who had left Hibernian just weeks before his return to the Hoops – and he has managed to guide the Bhoys smoothly to the brink of the Premiership title and the Scottish Cup final.
However, with a short term deal at Celtic Park, Lennon’s future is not certain and it could well be that the likes of Peter Lawwell and the rest of the board in Glasgow are looking for a new figure to start a new chapter at the club.
With that in mind, Callum McGregor’s dressing room admission must have the chief executive’s alarm bells ringing.
Speaking of Lennon’s arrival, the Scotland international revealed how the Northern Irish boss steadied the ship and steadied the ship, telling the Evening Times: “A lot of the work was done by Brendan, but to come in after the shock of what happened, the gaffer re-stabilised the club.
“We’ve been winning games, we’re still unbeaten under him, so to steady the ship, he’s been absolutely brilliant. I think it’s as much his title [as Brendan’s], it’s a team effort. The manager coming in and stabilising the place and then the players putting all the ideas out there on to the pitch and getting the wins and performances. It’s a real collective for us.”
Now, the summer might appear to be the perfect time to change things in the dugout, with pre-season and the summer to give the new man in charge the chance to bed in and put his stamp on the club, but Celtic do not have the same luxury of time others might do.
They will have Champions League qualifiers early in July, leaving a new boss no time at all to work with and gauge the standing of his squad, especially if they are tasked with replacing Lennon, whose stability has quite clearly had an impact on the players.
If Lawwell was thinking about changing things up, he best approach the squad leaders – which will include McGregor and Scott Brown – to judge whether it is a wise idea. Otherwise it could all end in tears.