Presenter suggests Dermot Desmond is planning who will be the next manager

Peter Martin has suggested that Dermot Desmond knows who the next Celtic manager is and that the club’s major shareholder is managing the situation so that the new manager doesn’t get associated with the disaster that has been this season.

Speaking to PLZ Soccer, Martin says that Desmond normally acts quickly in order to find a new manager but this case might be quite different as he hopes to maximise the success of a new manager and not have them tied to the current situation.

“I reckon that Dermot Desmond does his business quickly, agrees a deal with who he wants, he’s got that man in his mind. I think he’s already spoken to that man.

“I think the person that he’s identified has possibly – possibly – looked at it and said, ‘Look, I don’t want to come in with a failed side with a number of players that I don’t want there, and I certainly don’t want to come in and have to, in effect, put fires out all the way to Rangers’ coronation to the title. That’s my view on it.”

The story goes that Desmond took offence to the Rangers celebrations at the semi-final defeat to Rangers in the 2016 Scottish Cup prompting him to get Brendan Rodgers in. Following that appointment, Rodgers heralded in enormous success at the club which saw Rodgers and Lennon win a Quadruple Treble.

Desmond also brought in former Leicester manager Martin O’Neill in 2000, prompting a treble in his first season and a UEFA Cup final in 2003. During that spell, it showcased the success that a positive appointment, going for a top manager could reap immediate success.

It seems inevitable that Neil Lennon won’t be Celtic manager next year, the issue is who replaces him and who replaces the players that look set to move on. Eddie Howe has been mentioned a lot and still remains one of the favourites for the job but the appointment is so important that there is no room for delay nor error.