Former Celtic manager Neil Lennon has been sacked by Cyprus side Omonia Nicosia in a surprise turn of events. The Irishman presided as his team lost at Old Trafford last week in the Europa League but he will now be looking for a new role after he was relieved of his duties following a defeat today.
This was Lennon’s first role in management after leaving Celtic in late February last year with the season all but over, having imploded in the search for a tenth consecutive title. This lead to an enormous amount of disharmony at the club, something that Ange Postecoglou has done well to remedy. Lennon, however, had already won the Cyprus Cup as well as taking them to the Europa League. Former Celtic employees Garry Parker, Gary Hooper and Adam Matthews all joined Lennon in Cyprus so the decision to sack him is quite strange.
In a statement, Omonia thanked Lennon for his contribution but cited the reasons for ending their relationship – namely domestic results.
“We inform you that we have agreed with Mr. Neil Lennon to stop our collaboration.
“Mr. Lennon took over the technical leadership of our team last March, at a difficult time and managed to lead us to winning the cup and then to the historic qualification against KAA Gent and our entry into the Uefa Europa League groups, where we came close to historic results against Real Sociedad and Manchester United.
“Unfortunately, the ongoing competitive instability and the significant losses of points in the championship, are the main reasons that made us decide to end our partnership.
“Mr. Lennon has written his name in the history of Omonia and deserves the respect and recognition of all of us. Our paths separate, but the memories of our collaboration will unite us forever.
“We sincerely thank Mr. Lennon for his contribution and wish him every success in his future career.”
Lennon won ten titles with Celtic, eight Scottish Cups and three league cups in two spells as manager and as a player. He will always be a Celtic legend but it was clear that his time as manager was up. Lennon will be recognised for all that he has done for the club but it may take some time as the 2020/21 season was incredibly tough for everyone involved.
The question then falls to what will Lennon do now that he has left this role in Cyprus. It was clear that the manager was keen on working abroad as realistically there are not many clubs that he would consider. England remains an option for Lennon but given the tenure that he spent at Bolton, offers may be slim on the ground.
Of course, media will be an outlet for Lennon as he is able to provided informed analysis on the game. However, for now, Lennon will need to return to Glasgow on the hope that he can soon take up a new role.
Mr Lennon is an extremely arrogant man and believes his Celtic accolades are down to him only. When Mr Lennon begins to understand that his efforts were part of an overall team effort then Mr Lennon will learn the art of humility. Mr Lennon is a prick.
And please don’t let Mr Lennon get anywhere near Celtic FC.
The reason is that OMONIA is left behind in the Cypriot Division and there are no real hopes of finishing among the first, second or even third, so there is no point for the club to continue paying for Lennon, instead they brought in a more cost-effective alternative for the remaining time.