JOHN KENNEDY was yesterday asked if he reckoned that Neil Lennon was a genuine contender to become the new permanent Celtic manager, after being appointed as Interim Boss during the week after the sudden departure of Rodgers to Leicester City.
“I do,” the new Assistant Manager said to the media.
“It’s a short period now until the end of the season, but I know what Neil Lennon is like and he’s a born winner.
“He wants to come in and achieve things, knowing the culture at Celtic. He knows the environment, so nothing is going to shock him.
“As soon as Neil stepped back into the role, he knew what he was walking into.”
After the thrill of the last minute winner at hostile Tynecastle, where Celtic players were struck with coins and other objects incidentally, it’s now onto Easter Road which will be the first game in which we’ll start to see any tweaks to the playing style that Lenny wants.
“Neil will quickly assess the players, but having been around the games and having been with Hibs, he’ll already have a good grasp on who they are and what they are about,” Kennedy continued.
“I’m sure he’ll be a huge success and in the summer we’ll see where the thing goes.
“But Lenny would certainly be one who would be a strong candidate, longer term.”
When it became clear to Peter Lawwell that Rodgers was for the off, the club’s CEO turned immediately to Kennedy to ask him to step up and hold the fort. Kennedy explained what happened.
“When the news was first broken to me, I was thinking about how I had less than a day to pull a backroom staff together to get ready for the Hearts game a day later.
“Damien Duff was the first person to come into my mind, in terms of taking the team.
“When I spoke to Neil when I knew he was coming into the role, he asked me what I was thinking and when I mentioned Damien he said ‘Perfect’.
“We all met and had a chat and Neil was happy to go with that.”
