It is safe to say that most people would have expected Neil Lennon to have been shown the exit door by this point of time. After all, Celtic currently sit 23 points behind the Rangers in the Premiership table with almost no hope of mounting a comeback even if they manage to win the two remaining Glasgow Derbies.
And it is not like the club have done well on other fronts either. They failed to qualify for the Champions League main stage for the third season running, finished last in their Europa League group and were knocked out of the Scottish League Cup in the second round itself.
After four straight trebles, the club are well and truly headed for a trophyless season. Yet, Lennon still finds himself in the managerial hot seat with no sign of any change being made in the near future.
John Barnes is someone who has the experience of being sacked by Celtic. But he does not appear to be surprised that the club have stuck with Lennon. As reported by The Scottish Sun, he said:
"“I’m not really surprised that Lennon is still in charge.“We’re in a pandemic and with (the)Rangers being so far ahead, there’s little point in sacking Lennon just now, especially as you wouldn’t get any of the big names to take over immediately.“So it’s right to keep him for the time being. Though depending on how the rest of the season goes, they have a decision to make.“But I still think Celtic will probably have the edge financially on (the)Rangers, even if they don’t win the League. They’ve had this build-up of European revenue and money from winning the League and sponsorship. So they’re still a little bit ahead of (the)Rangers in that respect.”"
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Are Celtic waiting for the summer to make a change?
To be honest, Barnes might have hit the nail on the head here. That might be the exact thinking of the board, who do not see a point in sacking Lennon at this point of time. While there might be a fight for the second spot, it does feel like Celtic are good enough to get that done.
And then, they will probably bring in a new manager in the summer to start on a clean slate. It is understandable if no one wants to come in right now and be associated with the club’s failed quest for a historic 10IAR.
As a result, it might not end up being the worst idea in the world to keep Lennon till the summer. That is if he does end up guiding the side to a second place finish, which is not a foregone conclusion considering the alarming rate at which they have been dropping points recently.