“It’s a long way off,” Neil Lennon Contemplates a Celtic Return

Former Celtic player and manager, Neil Lennon, hasn’t ruled out rejoining Celtic in the distant future.

Lennon has enjoyed two separate stints as the manager of Celtic, although the second spell began in a caretaking capacity before being made permanent. Following his second departure from the Celtic managerial role, Lennon enjoyed various spells as the gaffer for a variety of clubs, including Bolton, Hibs, and Omonia Nicosia.

Currently out of work, Lennon addressed whether he has any intention of ever returning to Celtic, where he hasn’t completely ruled out the idea, while simultaneously making it clear that a possible move isn’t in the near future as the current manager, Ange Postecoglou, is doing such a fantastic job.

As reported by the DailyRecord, Lennon confessed that the Celtic job is still in the back of his mind.

“I’ve had a great privilege to manage Celtic over six years in two different stints, but at the minute, Ange Postecoglou is a great manager who is doing a great job. I’ll never say never to re-joining Celtic, but at the moment it’s a long way off,” Lennon said.

“Ange Postecoglou does not need any advice at the moment with the job he’s doing. He’ll be looking at improving the team, performances and his own personal record. The football they play is spectacular, they have a great mentality as shown in the Old Firm (sic) where they got a goal out of nothing.”

Lennon secondly addressed his performance as Celtic gaffer when COVID-19 prevented fans from attending games and conceded that mistakes were made in Celtic’s title defence, but claims that it was an unprecedented time, and certain things were outwith his control…

“Having no fans in the stadium had a massive effect, Covid-19 was affecting the players too who were a long way from home. My second spell was successful with five trophies out of seven, we were flying before Covid kicked in, but we had to start all over again. I had to become a sort of father figure to some of the players and I visited them because they would have come from different countries.

“No supporters in the stadium and in the streets took a toll on a lot of the players. With no money around at the time, clubs couldn’t buy players who wanted a new challenge. The fans are so important to Celtic, particularly on the Champions League and on European nights, they make a huge difference. In the team I played in, our record at Celtic Park was excellent, and that’s down to the fans. You miss them when you play in away games, they’re so unique.”