‘My job not on the line if Celtic lose to Motherwell’, says Neil Lennon

NEIL LENNON is confident he will remain as Celtic manager irrespective of the outcome of their potentially defining Scottish Premier League fixture against Motherwell at Fir Park tomorrow.

Celtic would go into the match trailing SPL leaders Rangers by 15 points if the reigning champions defeat Dundee United at Ibrox this afternoon. Lennon’s men, at third in the table, are three points behind Motherwell. Speculation has been rife this week that defeat for Celtic in Lanarkshire could spell the end of Lennon’s tenure, with his assistant Johan Mjallby admitting on Tuesday that the pair were “battling to save our jobs”.

But Lennon, buoyed by Celtic’s spirited 3-1 Europa League victory over Rennes at Parkhead on Thursday night, was adamant yesterday that the Sunday showdown with Motherwell will not be decisive for his longer term prospects as manager.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Listen, my job is not on the line here,” he said. “I don’t know why this has become a major issue all of a sudden. We can’t afford to drop more points but, as far as I am aware, and I haven’t been told anything differently, my job is not dependent on the result on Sunday.”

Asked if the subject had been broached in one of his regular conversations with Celtic’s Dublin-based major shareholder Dermot Desmond, Lennon replied: “No, not at all. It has never been mentioned.”

Despite his expression of surprise at the level of conjecture surrounding his position, however, Lennon is acutely aware that is has been prompted by Celtic’s wretchedly inconsistent SPL form so far this season. They have dropped 13 points from their first 12 games, including three defeats. Last season, when they missed out on the championship by a point to Rangers, they dropped a total of just 22 points and suffered four defeats in the whole 38-game campaign.

While he firmly believes he will be afforded time to turn things around, Lennon accepts the focus will centre on him if Celtic continue to falter in their quest to prevent Rangers winning a fourth consecutive title.

“I have my own personal pride, obviously, and I don’t enjoy it when we are a bit flat or when we show a poor mentality,” he added. “That is a reflection on me, because it is my team. But I take the standing of the club as being more important than my own personal situation. My job concerns me, but it is not the overriding issue, if you understand what I mean. The overriding issue is the reputation of the club. I don’t like it being damaged, especially when I’m in charge.”

Quizzed on whether he would consider his own situation if Celtic lost on Sunday, Lennon was understandably reluctant to stray too far into the realms of hypothesis.

“I examine myself all the time anyway in this job,” he replied. “We will look at the scenario after the game. I don’t want to talk about that now. If we lose the game, then we’ve got a mountain to climb. I think we are still within touching distance at the moment and we have to claw a lot of points back. That’s what we are aiming to do.”

Celtic have a game in hand on both Rangers and Motherwell, their rescheduled fixture at home to Dunfermline on 23 November. Lennon remains bullish about their prospects of embarking on a winning run that could reel in Rangers before the turn of the year.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“If we win our game in hand, we are nine points behind Rangers,” he said. “If we keep winning and Rangers keep winning, then we beat them at Celtic Park on December 28, it is six points going into the new year, which is nothing. There is still half the season to play. That’s the main objective for me, but it is all ifs and buts.

“I am not pleased about the differential in the league right now but I am enjoying the challenge. If we get out the other side of this, I will be delighted. But there is still a lot of work to be done.