Celtic have pulled the plug on beleaguered boss Neil Lennon.
Record Sport can reveal the manager was told his time is up late on Tuesday after the board held another round of crisis talks following the defeat at Ross County on Sunday night which effectively hammered the final nail into Lennon’s hopes of salvaging the club’s 10 in a row season.
An official announcement is expected to be made to the stock exchange on Wednesday morning with assistant boss John Kennedy set to be put in charge for the remainder of a catastrophic campaign.
Skipper Scott Brown could also be moved up into a rejigged backroom team as the crestfallen champions play out the last eight games of the top flight, trailing runaway leaders Rangers by 18 points.
Outgoing chief executive Peter Lawwell and majority shareholder Dermot Desmond had promised to stand by Lennon in December after furious fans protested in the Celtic Park carpark to demand the head of the Northern Irishman.
They also promised to hold a review of the managerial position in the new year but Lennon remained in charge even though he was unable to drag his team back into the title fight.
However, it’s understood the 1-0 defeat in Dingwall left Lennon’s position untenable and he was informed of the decision to remove him from the frontline.
A close source told us: “It’s a sad end but in many ways it’s felt inevitable for some time. It’s probably the best move for all parties not to allow it to continue for any longer.”
Record Sport can also reveal that Celtic’s players were unaware of the dramatic developments and will also be informed of the decision on Wednesday morning.
Lennon first signed for the club as a from Leicester City in December 2000 and went on to win a domestic clean sweep in his first season in Glasgow.
He then became the only man to have secured Trebles for the club as both a player and manager during his second stint in charge after replacing Brendan Rodgers in February 2019 and completed a historic quadruple Treble in December last year when his side defeated Hearts in the Scottish Cup Final.
But, with the current campaign already crumbling around him by then, the 49-year-old was on borrowed time.
