Neil Lennon and Johan Mjallby given chance to stake claim as Mowbray exits Celtic

• A stony-faced Tony Mowbray leaves Celtic's Lennoxtown training base yesterday at the end of his nine-month tenure. Picture: SNS Group

Moving quickly following Wednesday night's embarrassing 4-0 defeat to relegation-threatened St Mirren – a loss which cut the Parkhead club ten points adrift of their Old Firm rivals, who also have two games in hand – chief executive Peter Lawwell met with Mowbray at the club's Lennoxtown training complex yesterday lunchtime to discuss a severance package for him and his staff and bring to an end a tortured tenure which had lasted just over nine months and been punctuated by a meagre 23 wins in 45 games.

"This is a very sad day for everyone at Celtic," said Lawwell. "Tony is a very fine man and someone who I know is passionate about the club he served so well as a player. Clearly, we have had a difficult season and results have not been as we would have hoped. Tony is equally disappointed at some of our results this season but working so closely with him I know that throughout his period as manager he has always given the club his total and absolute commitment."

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In a separate statement, Mowbray, who was understood to be paid in excess of 750,000-a-year at the club and departed his meeting with Lawwell unhappy with the terms of the severance offer, said: "Naturally, I am very disappointed to be leaving Glasgow Celtic.

"I am very proud to have not only managed but also played for a club with such great tradition and that has tremendous roots in football history.

"I would like to offer my sincere thanks to all of the players and also to my staff who supported me so well. Finally, I would like to wish the club every success in the future."

The former West Bromwich Albion manager signed a one-year rolling contract in June and he made a bright enough start, defeating Dinamo Moscow over two legs in the Champions League qualifiers and remaining unbeaten in the league until October.

But he endured a fractured relationship with the media and his inability to guide his team beyond the group stages of the Europa League or better Rangers in the derby head-to-heads, combined with the perceived fragility of his formations meant he failed to fully win over the Celtic support, with match attendances down on previous campaigns.

The fans booed the team off the pitch and harangued the manager as the team bus arrived back at Parkhead after Wednesday night's match, but Mowbray suggested one result would not alter his status given that it followed on the back of three wins and three clean sheets for his team.

However, the board disagreed and, having witnessed the club's worst non-Old Firm result in three decades, they decided his position had become untenable and it was announced that Lennon, who returned to the club in 2008 as a member of the coaching staff under Gordon Strachan and has been responsible for the development squad this term, would take charge of the side for Saturday's match against Kilmarnock at Celtic Park. Former team-mate Mjallby, who has been working as a television pundit in his native Sweden will join up with him in time for today's training.

Publicly the club have said they will now assess the plausibility and availability of candidates, with bookmakers installing the likes of Paul Lambert, Willie McStay, Mark Hughes, Roy Keane, Slaven Bilic and David O'Leary, among those likely to be approached, but with eight league games and a maximum of two Scottish Cup games remaining this season, the early indications are that Lennon and Mjallby will be given the reins until the summer.

Results and performances between now and then will determine whether they remain in the running for the roles long-term but, should they invoke any kind of improvement, they will be hard to resist given the fact Celtic will be constrained by the same financial restrictions which blighted their managerial search last summer.

Bolton manager Owen Coyle was the preferred option at that time but rejected the club's overtures, while other household names such as David Moyes made it clear they did not want to move to the SPL, and others pondered the likely player purse and made it clear they did not wish to be considered.

Celtic fans will, once again, call for high-profile candidates but their club's anticipated failure to win the league title this season means they would be denied an automatic Champions League place which will simply exacerbate that problem of financial clout.

With a severance package still to be agreed and paid out, the long-term appointment of Lennon and Mjallby would not only be welcomed by sections of the fan base wooed by the former's heart on sleeve approach, they would also be the cheaper option for a club who were forced to pay in excess of 2m in compensation to land Mowbray and his coaches Mark Venus and Peter Grant from The Hawthorns in the first place.

Waiting until the summer would also allow Celtic to see how matters develop at Ibrox and whether new owners will be found and whether a new management team will be installed there. By then they will know what they are up against and, having assessed all their options, they will have a better idea of the means they have at their own disposal.