THE pressure continues to mount for Neil Lennon in the aftermath of his side's Betfred Cup exit at the hands of Ross County on Sunday afternoon, with the Scottish champions on a torrid run of just two wins in their last 10 games in all competitions.
With their elimination from the Europa League mathematically confirmed and an 11-point gap between the Parkhead club and their rivals across the city in the league, some fans have had enough.
An angry mob congregated outside Celtic Park in the wake of Sunday's defeat calling for Lennon's resignation, while other supporters have taken to social media to vent their disquiet about their team's performances of late.
Lennon remains in post and has outlined his hope that he will be given the opportunity to turn things around as Celtic go chasing an historic tenth consecutive league title, while bookmakers are accepting bets on who the next man in the Parkhead hotseat could be, should the board decide that a change in approach is required.
Here, Herald and Times Sport looks at the current favourites to succeed Lennon, should the Celtic boss be relieved of his duties, and examines their coaching record to date.
Eddie Howe (43)
Teams managed:
Bournemouth (2008-11, 2012-20), Burnley (2011-21).
Honours won:
English Championship (2014/15).
The 43-year-old would be an ambitious appointment from the Parkhead board given Howe’s stock remains relatively high south of the border, but the former Cherries boss could well be tempted into the role after watching from afar as Brendan Rodgers rebuilt his reputation in Glasgow’s east end. Has been out of work since August but would likely command a large wage.
Gordon Strachan (63)
Teams managed:
Coventry (1996-2001), Southampton (2001-04), Celtic (2005-09), Middlesbrough (2009-10), Scotland (2013-17).
Honours won: Scottish Premier League (2005/06) (2006/07) (2007/08)
Scottish Cup (2006/07)
Scottish League Cup (2005/06) (2008/09).
The 63-year-old enjoyed considerable success during his time in the home dugout at Parkhead, winning three consecutive titles and leading the club into the knockout phase of the Champions League for the first time. Failed to end Scotland’s wait to qualify for a major tournament during his time in charge of the national team and is now working as a technical director at Dundee, overseeing the Championship club’s youth development.
John Kennedy (37)
Teams managed:
N/A.
Honours won:
N/A.
Kennedy’s playing career was cruelly cut short in its infancy but since making the step into coaching, the former Celtic defender has made quite the name for himself. Kennedy spent over five years taking charge of the club’s Under-20s side before becoming part of Brendan Rodgers’ backroom staff for the senior squad, and rejected the chance to follow Rodgers to Leicester City. Held in high regard at Parkhead and tipped for a bright future, but this particular role may have arrived too soon for him.
Henrik Larsson (49)
Teams managed:
Landskrona Bols (2010-12), Falkenbergs FF (2014), Helsingborgs IF (2015-16) (2019).
Honours won:
None.
The Swedish striker will always be a legend at Celtic and given the fact that Larsson has already taken his first tentative steps into management, the legendary forward’s name is always going to be banded about. The prospect of a Larsson return to Parkhead is stirringly romantic but doesn’t hold up to much scrutiny. It would be generous to call his coaching record in Sweden mediocre and he has yet to really show he has what it takes to be a manager, particularly at a club the size of Celtic. Oh, and he’s currently working alongside Lionel Messi every day as part of Ronald Koeman’s backroom staff at Barcelona. As much as Celtic mean to him, it could be a very tricky sell.
Steve Clarke (57)
Teams managed:
West Brom (2012-13), Reading (2014-15), Aston Villa (2016), Kilmarnock (2017-19), Scotland (2019-present).
Honours won:
None.
Clarke may have never lifted a trophy as first-team manager but the Scotland boss has enjoyed considerable success in his career nonetheless. He played a key role as a member of the coaching staff as Chelsea won the Champions League in 2012, turned Kilmarnock into the third-best side in the country during his spell in Ayrshire and, of course, masterminded Scotland’s qualifications for next summer’s European Championships. Another unlikely candidate, given the national side’s form under Clarke and his preference for tactics that don’t really fit into Celtic’s ethos.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here