It's looking increasingly likely that Neil Lennon has managed Hibernian for the final time.
Late last night, news began to seep out from the Edinburgh club that the Lurgan man had been 'suspended' from his duties at Easter Road, following a heated exchange with the playing staff at the club's East Lothian training base yesterday afternoon.
Further reports this morning also seem to suggest that the feisty former midfield general had a curt exchange with club Chief Executive Leeann Dempster in the immediate aftermath of, what was clearly, a very robust dressing down of his squad.
Hibs, who are without a win in the Scottish Premiership since their 2-0 victory over Lennon's former side Celtic on December 16th, fell to a 1-0 defeat to Motherwell on Wednesday night, a performance that Lennon was said to be furious with.
After a fine opening to the campaign that saw the Hibbies lose only one of their opening eight matches in the league, their form took a dramatic nosedive after a 4-2 defeat to Celtic at Celtic Park in October. They would not taste victory again until a 1-0 victory over Hamilton in December, a run of seven games without a win.
In the run up to the Christmas break, it seemed that parity had been restored, but a derby defeat to Hearts at home, followed by the reverse against Motherwell on Wednesday, now see Lennon's side languishing in eighth. A sobering reality for a team that qualified for Europe after a fourth place finish last season.
Reports in the Scottish Sun this afternoon hint that Lennon may have read the riot act to his players ahead of Sunday's trip to bottom side St. Mirren, demanding an immediate upturn in performances.
The Northern Irishman gained infamy for his explosive temper as a player, and things haven't seemed to cool much during his time in the dugout.
His time at Celtic was peppered with touchline flareups, most notable of which, was the night Hearts fan, John Wilson, vaulted advertising hoardings before launching himself at Lennon, getting in a fair dig before being dragged away, back in May 2011.
More recently, Lennon was handed a three-match ban from the dugout, after a hilariously provocative cluster of celebrations during Hibs' pulsating 5-5 draw with Rangers at Easter Road last season.
Brought up in Lurgan, County Armagh, Lennon represented Northern Ireland on forty occasions, going on to captain the side before retiring in 2002, after alleged death threats were issued to him from Loyalist Paramilitaries.
It is unclear who will man the dugout for the match in Paisley tomorrow afternoon, as Lennon's backroom team are reported to be fully behind the manager.
