‘To suggest Easter Road clash will be fixed is an an insult to both clubs’
at Hibs, the affection he’s held in by the Celtic support and the fact he’s really maturing as a coach, then he’d be well up there in the pecking order if Brendan ended up leaving.
“Neil wants to build something at Hibs, but I know him well and, if he doesn’t feel he can get the backing and is standing still, then I don’t think he’ll want to hang around at Hibs too long.
“But, at the moment, he seems happy because he has got the backing. He has done a good job, but ,as a manager and competitor, he will want to better himself in terms of performance levels.
“If he takes Hibs to second place, it will be tough to do that again and he’ll be working out how he can do that again next season.” l BT Sport has six post-split SPFL games in four weeks, kicking off with Hibs v Celtic on Saturday 21 April from 12pm on BT Sport 1. BT Sport is where the best go head to head, bringing you live coverage of the Ladbrokes Premiership and Betfred League Cup. For more information, visit www. Bt.com/sport Scottish football is rarely found wanting when it comes to conspiracies and the latest from online fans’ forums is that Celtic and Hibernian will conspire to avoid a victory for the visitors at Easter Road on Saturday, thus potentially allowingbrendanrodgers’ team to clinch the championship at home to Rangers eight days later.
A home win would also allow Neil Lennon’s side to move level on points with second-placed Rangers, who host Hearts the following day, thus ramping up the pressure on Graeme Murty.
However, former Celtic defender and Hibs manager Alan Stubbs believes such suggestions are a slur on both of his old clubs.
“I think it’s insulting,” he said. “They are professional players and managers and they will always set up teams to win. Brendan is very positive and always looking to win, rather than set his team up for a draw. “Managers can be reserved and defensive, but Brendan and Lenny are very positive and will always look for all three points.
“Brendan spoke about how the Old Firm game should have been the first after the break, so people will now look at that and talk about it. A lot of Celtic fans will want it to be a draw so it takes it to the following week.
“It’s always nicer to win a title in front of your fans if you can do it but Neil will 100 per cent try to win the game.”
Stubbs also contends that, whenever Rodgers, pictured, finally takes his leave of Celtic, that Lennon – who resigned in 2014 after winning three successive titles – would be the ideal replacement for him.
“Neil is a better manager than he was when he left Celtic,” he said. “If he went back, would he be better? That’s a difficult one to answer because he was so successful.
“But would he be more experienced when it comes to how he deals with different things? Absolutely. You have to learn from every experience.” Lennon’s players can still finish as runners-up to Celtic which, in their first season back in the elite division, wouldbearemarkable achievement. It would not, however, trump the Scottish Cup final win over Rangers in 2016, according to Stubbs, who master-minded that success.
“To come from the championship and have such a season is fantastic,” he said.
“Neil will play it down because they haven’t won anything but, in terms of progressing the club or making them as competitive as they are, it shouldn’t be under-estimated.
“But is it alongside the Cup? No! Who came second in the Premier League ten years ago? No-one remembers.” l Alan Stubbs was speaking to promote Saturday’s Coral Scottish Grand National at Ayr Racecourse.