Celtic want to limp on under Lennon; fans reportedly force Lawwell U-turn

By John McGinley

January 22, 2021

Despite an uncertain future, Celtic would prefer to limp on to the end of the season under Neil Lennon rather than replace him immediately, The Scottish Daily Mail has reported today (22/01 print edition, page 91).

The paper reports that the club plan to restructure football operations this summer. As a result, they’d prefer not to make a managerial change until the summer.

Journalists Stephen McGowan and Brian Marjoribanks also say a planned video address by Peter Lawwell has been shelved. That’s because of fan reaction to his last controversial interview with Gerry McCulloch.

The Chief Executive was going to deliver a state-of-play update on the club and the future of Lennon.

However, it appears he’s now decided to take a U-turn on that and hide behind the wall of silence again.

Celtic can’t plan for future with Neil Lennon in charge

This stance is detrimental to Celtic’s plans for next season, and that could prove costly.

Second place in the Scottish Premiership is likely this season. That means we’ll be entering the much harder non-champions route of qualifications for the Champions League.

Going into that process ill-prepared with a brand new manager would, to me, significantly hamper our chances.

Unless the club are settling for the Europa League, which would represent a drop in ambition, then they must think about making a change right now.

Planning for a future without Lennon directly undermines the job he is doing right now. Not planning for a future is bad for Celtic.

The future of Neil Lennon at Celtic is the focus of fierce debate / (Photo by Gary Hutchison / SNS Group via Getty Images)

The only solution is to say goodbye to the manager and embark on a robust recruitment drive, in conjunction with the planned operational changes.

Celtic are playing with fire here, especially when it comes to supporter trust. Unless they effectively communicate soon, season ticket cash will be hard to bank on in 2021.

In other news, Celtic have missed out on Alfie Doughty.