John Barnes reckons Neil Lennon will keep his job as Celtic manager even if they fail to lift the Scottish Cup this weekend.
The Hoops boss has come under fire this term after a number of poor results in the Premiership and Europa League, as well as a shock 2-0 defeat to Ross County at home in the Betfred Cup. Furious fans have already called for the manager's head and protests were held outside Parkhead where banners were hoisted demanding the board and manager be sacked.
Two games recently - wins over Lille and Kilmarnock - have brought back a tinge of optimism in Celtic fans' minds, but defeat to Hearts in Sunday's Hampden showdown could be the final nail in the coffin for Lennon, despite Dermot Desmond and Peter Lawwell backing the Northern Irishman publicly with statements on the club website.
Barnes, however, believes Lennon would still deserve more time to turn things around even if his players are beaten to the cup and prevented from winning an historic quadruple Treble. "It would be disappointing if they don’t win the final, but I don't think Neil will necessarily lose his job," the former Celtic boss said.
"Celtic are good enough to go on a run and win the majority of games. Unfortunately for them, Rangers look unstoppable at the moment. But I don't think that just losing the Cup Final will mean that he's not going to be in a job.
"It really depends on this Christmas period when they're going to be playing quite a few games. Things can change very quickly if they win four in a row. What’s important is for them to decide not by looking game to game, but to give it a longer period of time before they make a decision."
Barnes was speaking to BonusCodeBets.
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