Celtic manager Neil Lennon has addressed the status of the January job review.
The club alluded to the review in a statement last month.
The form of the Bhoys had hit the buffers late last year. Celtic backed their under-fire manager to the hilt after days and weeks of speculation.
However, the club added an essential caveat to that, asserting progress would be reviewed in early 2021.
The statement read: “Whilst it has been suggested that it is time for a change, at this stage in the season the Board believes that Neil and his management team are best placed to turn the team’s performances around and lead us on to success. The Board continues to work closely with Neil and his team to support them as they seek to do so and progress will be reviewed in the new year.”
In early January, the Scottish Sun reported that the review had taken place in the wake of the defeat to Rangers and that he had been backed until the end of the season.
Lennon was asked about the subject by BBC Scotland reporter Kheredine Idessane today.
The Celtic manager responded to a question of whether it had taken place or is still to happen.
He said: “You’ll need to ask the board that.”
Idessane persisted: “There were some reports that the review had happened and you were to continue to the end of the season.”
Sarcastically, Lennon replied: “Well that’s great news for me then, isn’t it?”
The BBC man enquired: “That’s not correct, you’ve not heard that?”
Lennon’s response? A simple “no.”
Celtic January job review still to take place
That exchange, coupled with the Celtic Supporter Liason Officer’s Tweet earlier, appears to confirm that the review has yet to take place, despite reports.
Tomorrow night’s match against Livingston takes on new meaning in that context.
Another defeat, or even more dropped points, and it could finally be curtains for Lennon’s second spell.
Given Lennon’s defiant tone today, it looks like there’s nothing imminent in the pipeline. But that prospect of a review is still out there, so we could be in for an interesting January.
In other news, there was one particularly extraordinary exchange in Lennon’s press conference today.
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