Paul John Dykes and Kevin Graham discussed Neil Lennon’s future on a recent edition of Celtic-focused podcast A Celtic State of Mind and during the show, they spent some time talking about the possibility of John Kennedy and Gavin Strachan taking the reins at Parkhead on a temporary basis if the Northern Irish manager leaves.
Lennon is under pressure at present with the Hoops managing to win just one of their last nine games in all competitions. Following their most recent loss, which came in Sunday’s Scottish League Cup clash with Ross County, supporters of the Glasgow club even gathered outside of Celtic Park to call for the manager’s sacking.
On the topic of Lennon possibly being relieved of his duties as a result of the Hoops’ poor form and the fan unrest that has ensued, Dykes shared that he thinks there’s “a possibility” that Kennedy and Strachan, both of whom are currently assistants to the 49-year-old manager, could take temporary charge of the Hoops should Lennon be sacked and here is what the podcaster had to say about that possibility in full:
“Let’s be honest, it’s a possibility. If John Kennedy and Gavin Strachan are installed on a temporary basis – and I dearly hope that’s not the case – and we put in a performance which is unlike anything that we have put in this season, would that then say that they have downed tools for Neil Lennon?
“John Kennedy and Strachan are already there, they’re not going to give you the spark [or] the bounce that a new management team can give you.”
Do you think it's likely that Strachan and Kennedy will take charge of Celtic temporarily if Lennon leaves?
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TIF Thoughts on what Dykes had to say about Kennedy and Strachan…
Perhaps if Lennon were to be sacked before the club had lined up his permanent successor, it would make sense for the current Hoops boss’ assistants to step up and take charge of the first-team on a temporary basis and Dykes may have a good point in saying that if this were to happen, then it would be interesting to see if Celtic’s players immediately demonstrated a noticeable improvement on their performances compared to the ones they’d been delivering under Lennon.
If so, then surely it would suggest that Lennon has been the biggest factor in Celtic’s poor run of late, as Dykes also indicated.
However, with Celtic’s board reportedly still backing Lennon despite the Hoops getting knocked out of the League Cup, it certainly seems as though no rash decisions are imminent so maybe, if Lennon’s future is in doubt, the club will have decided on his successor by the time that they do pull the trigger and so, maybe it’s unlikely that it’ll be necessary for Kennedy and Strachan to be given the reins on a temporary basis.