The Scottish Cup semi-final draw was made on Monday night, and Celtic will face a Premiership opponent.
The Hoops will take on either Aberdeen or Rangers at Hampden Park in April. It is not going too far to suggest that Neil Lennon’s long-term future as Celtic manager could depend on getting a victory at Hampden.
Lennon would be huge favourite to be appointed permanent Hoops if he leads the Bhoys to a league and cup double under his stewardship.
Doubts should the Hoops lose
But a defeat at Hampden could bring about doubts amongst the Hoops support and in the boardroom.
For Lennon to win the Scottish Cup, he will have to banish some ghosts of previous Hampden visits. Even though Lennon did lead the Hoops to two Scottish Cup triumphs as manager, just as noticeable were some poor defeats.
The Hoops managed to lose semi-finals to Hearts and St Mirren with Lennon at the helm. They also lost cup finals to Rangers and Kilmarnock.
Better Hoops team than in previous years
It can be pointed out that the current Celtic is probably better than those managed by Lennon in his first spell in charge.
They are used to winning, and won’t want to give up their trophies in a hurry. However, there will be a slight worry as Lennon has suffered so many losses at Hampden.
On their day, the Hoops are good enough to defeat either Rangers or Aberdeen. Anything can happen in cup football, as Lennon is well aware. He will be hoping the form book prevails in April.
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