Frank McGarvey urges board to make interim role permanent now

A host of names including Craig Levein, Alan Pardew and Ronald Koeman have been linked with the post since Tony Mowbray departed in March after a calamitous 4-0 defeat at St Mirren which ended any hopes of winning the Premier League title back from their Old Firm rivals.

Lennon was installed on an interim basis and he strengthened his case with a 2-1 win over Rangers at Parkhead on Tuesday night which extended his winning run in the SPL to seven games.

The Irishman has been told he will be informed of his future at the end of the season but McGarvey, who played for Celtic between 1980 and 1985, urged the Parkhead board to end the speculation by naming Lennon as manager.

"Celtic must appoint Lennon as manager right away," said McGarvey. "They have won their last seven SPL games and it is all down to him. He has shown that he could be the exception to the rule in succeeding at a big club in his first management role.

"People say he has no experience as manager but he has experience at being at Celtic, playing and living in the Old Firm environment, which means a lot.

"Let's face it, you are not going to get big-name managers coming up from England to take the job. Even Scots who are managing down south are not interested. So Lennon is probably as well qualified as anyone in Scotland to do the Celtic job."

McGarvey added: "He inherited a club in crisis and has brought a smile back to the faces of the Celtic support who were singing his name during the Rangers game.

"Like many Celtic fans, I believe Celtic would not have beaten Rangers on Tuesday night if Mowbray had still been in charge. It wasn't down to luck, it was down to Neil Lennon.

"The players respect him, they are battling for him so Celtic should give him the job immediately and let him start preparing for the Champions League campaign which is just round the corner."