Lennon to be disappointed as Celtic will look elsewhere for a man to take them on

When former club captain Neil Lennon took the manager’s job on a temporary basis at Celtic he made it clear he would like to keep it on a permanent basis.

Promoted

When Tony Mowbray was relieved of his duties, Lennon was promoted from reserve team manager to take over until the end of the season. With the SPL title out of reach, a disappointing European campaign long forgotten and an early exit from the League Cup, the only possible trophy left for Celtic was the Scottish FA Cup.

Just about the only success of Mowbray’s tenure in charge was that he had guided them to the semi-finals. It all looked pretty good because Rangers had already been eliminated and Celtic had been drawn to play against First Division Ross County.

Statement

This was an ideal chance for Lennon to make a positive statement about his credentials for taking the job permanently. Unfortunately for Lennon and all connected with Celtic, the unthinkable happened and the minnows of Ross County beat them 2-0 to book a final tie with Dundee United in May.

After that game Lennon has warned that many players could be sold off in the summer because they are not good enough. He talked about strikers who don’t score goals and are not brave and defenders who can’t defend. He also accepted that an immediate turn around in fortunes was required if he isn’t going to find himself as a part of the clear-out.

Lennon is desperate for the players to prove him wrong and show that together, under his leadership, they can make things better.

“Well, they’ve got six games to prove it. It better be hurting the players because if it doesn’t I don’t know what will. I’m thinking about winning the next five or six games and getting closer to Rangers if we can. I want the players to prove me wrong; I criticised them, whether they liked it or not. I felt I said what was needed at the time and there’s no point them hiding behind me. The board are getting a lot of criticism but the performance was nothing to do with the board.”

In truth, with Rangers being some thirteen points clear, the chances of getting close to them are pretty slim.

Disastrous

Last night saw their first challenge since the disastrous cup game on Saturday when they took on Motherwell in the SPL at Celtic Park. It was a tough job for the rookie manager to try to lift his squad.

Before last night’s game Lennon insisted that the cup exit had not changed his mind about wanting the job permanently. In fact he said it had the opposite effect.

“It reinforces my feelings for wanting the job; I know what’s required. However, I can understand the fans thinking at the minute ‘he’s nowhere near ready for it’. Again, I’ll be judged over the next five or six games and assess it in the summer when I speak to the powers that be.”

Unfortunately for Lennon, I think the Cup exit will also form part of the judgement and for that reason his chance may have gone. For the record, Celtic did manage to beat Motherwell 2-1 but they went 1-0 down and were hardly impressive.

It is nice when young managers are given a chance in big jobs but I don’t think Neil Lennon will get more than six games at this time.