Celtic interim manager Neil Lennon has revealed that he isn’t ready to take much credit for the club’s inevitable Premiership success.
The Hoops are effectively just two games from achieving the historic achievement. Next Sunday sees Celtic take on Aberdeen at Hampden in the Scottish Cup semi-final in a bid to take a step closer to the treble treble. The Betfred Cup is already in the bag, with the league championship next to be secured.
Lennon took over the club in late February after Brendan Rodgers’ sudden departure to Leicester City. The Northern Irishman did leave Celtic eight points clear at the top with the Betfred Cup already in the bag.
And, speaking ahead of Sunday’s match in the Scottish Sun, Lennon paid tribute to Rodgers and refused to take much credit for this season’s potential success.
“It would be a partial contribution from me, this eighth title. It would be a partial contribution from me, this eighth title.
“This is still very much a Brendan team rather than mine. There are players here from my previous time, but it’s still got Brendan’s stamp on it.
“I want to do it for him as much as anybody else. To finish the season unbeaten since coming here would be great. I won’t say it’s been easy, but we’re going well.”
Scottish Cup is all Lennon’s
Lennon didn’t reference the Scottish Cup in his comments, and no wonder. Whilst Rodgers may have laid down the seeds of success in the Premiership this season, he didn’t do much work in the Scottish Cup.
He did manage a 3-0 win over Airdrieonians to reach the quarter-final of the competition, but Lennon had to see off Hibernian in just his second game since taking over. If he then overcomes Aberdeen and potentially Hearts/Inverness in the final, he has the right to put his claim on the Scottish Cup.
Fair play to Lennon for not milking this, however. It would be easy for him to sing from the rooftops about his ability to keep the team ticking over since Rodgers’ departure. That isn’t the approach he’s been going for, however, and he’s clearly taking a modest approach to the interim job.
He’s still effectively auditioning for the role permanently. Performances haven’t been anywhere near as good as the results, but it could be the latter that effectively lands him the job anyway.
It’s going to be difficult for the Celtic board to turn down a treble winner. At the end of the day, it could still be Lennon’s job to lose, regardless of who we want in the role.
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