‘LENNON’S HOOPS ARE A DISMAL FAILURE... CELTIC MUST MAKE A CALL NOW’
MARK WILSON last night called on the Celtic board to put Neil Lennon out of his misery by calling time on his troubled Parkhead tenure.
A former Celtic team-mate of Lennon, who also played under the Northern Irishman in his first spell in charge in the east end of Glasgow, Wilson was not surprised to see him vow to battle on after the 2-2 draw at Livingston on Wednesday night.
But Celtic’s ten-in-a-row dream has unravelled in spectacular fashion under his command and this week’s result marked the first time that the Parkhead club, who trail Steven Gerrard’s Rangers by a whopping 20 points, have gone four league games without a win since 2000 when Kenny Dalglish was in charge.
Tweets from supporters liason officer John Paul Taylor raised expectations that Celtic might announce the outcome of their managerial review within the next seven days.
Sportsmail understands, however, that plans for a state-of-play video address to fans by chief executive Peter Lawwell have now been shelved following a negative reaction from supporters to last week’s Dubai apology.
With plans afoot for a restructuring of the club’s football operations this summer, Celtic directors would prefer to limp to the end of the season before making a change at the managerial helm.
Wilson says Lennon will appreciate that a run of just seven wins in his team’s last 22 matches is sackable form.
But, while the manager has said he will never quit, Wilson called on the board to do its ‘duty’ and tell the 49-year-old his second spell at the helm is over.
The former Celtic and Scotland defender said: ‘I think a lot of people are calling for him to resign but, knowing Neil the way I do — I played under him, I played with him — he’s a fantastic leader and he’s a fighter, a scrapper.
‘He won’t quit. I didn’t expect anything less from his comments after the match on Wednesday.
‘But I do think there’s a duty of the club, from the people above him, to make the decision.’
Celtic’s horrendous form comes after the hugely controversial midwinter trip to Dubai at the height of the Covid pandemic.
After Christopher Jullien tested positive on the squad’s return from the warm weather training camp, Celtic had to face Hibs and Livingston with 13 players, plus Lennon and his backroom staff, having to self-isolate.
In the face of mounting pressure, chief executive Peter Lawwell apologised for the visit to the UAE only for Lennon to defend the trip on Monday at a press conference.
His comments were described as ‘appalling’ by Scotland’s Deputy First Minister John Swinney.
With no game this weekend, Celtic are not in action again until they host Hamilton on Wednesday, January 27.
‘What do Celtic do with that time? Well they certainly don’t leave the country, that’s for sure,’ Wilson told Sky Sports.
‘They have to get back to the training pitch and they have to get all their players back.’