FAILURE IS JUST NOT AN OPTION
Lennon must be an instant hit and can’t slip up in the Leith hotseat
NO wiggle room. No safety net. No excuses, no slip-ups. No more second chances. That’s what makes Neil Lennon and Hibernian such a perfect fit. The fact that neither club nor manager can afford to even contemplate failure. A pretty reliable recipe for success, if ever there was.
The stakes wouldn’t have needed to be explained to any of the candidates applying to fill the void left by Alan Stubbs’ departure. If Hibs don’t win promotion back to the Premiership this season, they can tear up their business plan and stop trying to keep up appearances.
Abandon the role of a temporarily embarrassed top-flight club in everything but their league surroundings.
The dreaded reality of a fourth season in the second tier would effectively reduce the Easter Road outfit, even with Sir Tom Farmer’s backing, to a sort of beefed-up Falkirk.
They would have a big budget in comparison to everyone else in the Championship but, really, they’d be hoping to catch a break one year. Or the year after.
As for where Lennon would be left, professionally, in the event of falling short? Well, there are reasons why former Old Firm managers avoid invitations to work at ‘other clubs’ in Scotland — even several steps removed from their experiences in Glasgow.
For starters, comparing the bright lights of Celtic Park or Ibrox on a big night with the average day at even most sizeable Scottish clubs, the mind wanders to a song that became hugely popular among American troops at the end of the First World War: ‘How ya gonna keep them down on the farm after they’ve seen Paree?’.
But it’s not just a downsizing in terms of glamour that puts off Old Firm veterans. It’s the knowledge that, should they fail with some ‘lesser’ side in a country where the Big Two dominate the agenda, they will have hit a career cul-de-sac. No way out.
Lennon, respected for his work at Celtic and given half a free pass for Bolton because of all the off-field chaos there, needs a hit. He needs to smash this one out of the park. His new supporters expect nothing less.
Leaping at the chance to get back into the game he loves, the Northern Irishman arrives to a 90-10 split — at least — among Hibs fans pretty pleased to be landing such a major figure.
Former Hibs star Keith Wright told Sportsmail: ‘The fact that Neil has managed at the top level is very important. He understands the pressure of having to win a league title. And most will tell you that Hibs have to win that league next year.
‘This is so much bigger than the club maybe just going for someone from down south, someone who doesn’t know the scene — and probably doesn’t know how big the job is. Neil understands all of that.
‘This is a great time to be at Hibs. Obviously they’ve just won the Scottish Cup but, after Alan left, you saw a lot of names being linked with the job. A lot of guys who had been out of the game and were looking for a way back in.
‘To get someone of Neil’s calibre is great because he’s a leader and a big character. The players will soon realise that, especially the younger ones who maybe didn’t see him play.
‘I think he’ll bring a bit of a fear factor to the training ground, in a positive way. And the place will need someone to keep the atmosphere up after Stubbsy left the club.
‘My young lad is on the book at Hibs, so I’m out at East Mains quite a lot. Compared to recent years, it was just a great place to be last season. You would see the players coming out after training with big smiles on their faces.
‘They will have been uncertain after Alan leaving but, now that they’ve got a manager like Neil Lennon coming in, there will be real optimism around the place again.
‘No one is saying it’s going to be easy. There are going to be hard days, especially away from home, when Hibs will really be tested.
‘But the players already there will benefit from having such a good manager in — and I think the board hiring him suggests there will be room for him to add a few good signings.’
With the Scottish Cup sitting in the trophy cabinet for the first time since 1902, Hibs fans were already in a pretty giddy state.
Still, the departure of Stubbs did cast a pall of uncertainty over even that historic triumph at Hampden last month. Plenty wouldn’t have trusted their board to pick the right manager from a field of one.
The prospect of an astute and proven coach taking charge, firing up the troops and patrolling the touchline with intent? That’ll be enough to reignite the sunny optimism down Leith way.
Wright, now an SFA Football Development Officer for Midlothian Council, believes fans are entitled to be excited. And to dream of something even beyond domestic success.
‘Of course, Europe provides an opportunity,’ said the former League Cup winner, with a nod to the Europa League second-round qualifiers on the horizon.
‘It’s always hard for Scottish teams in those early European games. But Neil has been there, done it all with Celtic. So the players will be excited waiting for the draw, first of all — and they’ll really appreciate having a manager of such experience.
‘I think they’ll be looking to win through that first qualifier, almost regardless of who they get. With a manager who achieved quite a bit in the Champions League with Celtic, why not?
‘He’s arriving in a dressing room with confidence flying, too, remember.
‘Normally a new manager takes over on a low. But he’s walking into a club who have just won the Scottish Cup for the first time in 114 years, backed by fans who can’t wait for the season to start.’
Underpinning this appointment is more than just a desire to please the fans. There is a desperate need for the pay off.
That means promotion. Which, if you want to avoid the uneven playing field of the play-offs, equates to winning the title. Or else.
It promises to be fun.
He knows the pressure of having to win a league title — and they now have to win that league