If former Celtic striker Chris Sutton is to be believed, Neil Lennon's future at Parkhead is still a long way up in the air.
After Brendan Rodgers upped sticks back in February, Neil Lennon emerged as Celtic's saviour, keeping the club at the top of the table. Now, it's looking increasingly likely that he will lead them to an eighth league title in a row. However, those assuming Lennon will be happy to just stay around, whatever the circumstances, may be a little wide of the mark.
According to the caretaker manager's former teammate, Lennon will have conditions if he is to take the job on a permanent basis. In his Daily Record column today, Sutton said:
If you think him becoming the next permanent Celtic manager is down purely to whether or not Dermot Desmond and Peter Lawwell want to give him it, I would be willing to bet you are wrong.
Everyone thinks he will just jump at the chance to be the next boss and is walking around day on day waiting for the call from the hierarchy to confirm him in the post to succeed to Brendan Rodgers.
If he is, it’s not the Neil Lennon I know...
Celtic need a massive rebuild. He’s said it himself in public and he’ll have said it to Desmond and Lawwell.
It’s going to take big backing and major moves in the transfer market this summer looking ahead to next season and the Neil I know isn’t going to be anyone’s patsy.
Sutton's comments come after a week when Lennon ruled himself out of contention for the vacant Scottish job. When Alex Macleish was relieved of his duties earlier in the week, Celtic's strong form of late - without a loss since Lennon took over - immediately threw the Northern Irishman into contention for the Scottish role. The 47-year-old, however, has stated that he prefers the "day-to-day stuff" and suggested the job should go to a "Scotland man".
That will have been music to the ears of Celtic fans, though the comments of his former teammate may not be quite so pleasing.
Lennon brings his side to Easter Road tomorrow to face Hibernian where a win would see the club stretch their lead to 11 points at the top of the Scottish Premiership. Had Rangers lost today, their rivals could have secured the title in Edinburgh tomorrow. That won't happen now, though Lennon's side are still poised to secure a historic treble-treble before the end of the season.
