Neil Lennon believes his football mentor Martin O’Neill has earned the right to decide if he stays on as Celtic manager after leading the Parkhead club to a domestic double.
Lennon was devastated when his Dunfermline side lost the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup final 3-1 to his former team in a one-sided encounter at Hampden this afternoon.
However, he still held aloft the arm of O’Neill, who was tempted out of retirement back in October and who has spent two spells in the dugout, following the final whistle and paid a glowing tribute to his opposite number.
The 74-year-old will hold talks with major shareholder Dermot Desmond next week and is still unsure if he will be asked to remain in charge of the Glasgow giants by the billionaire financier.
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His fellow Northern Irishman believes he should have the final say about whether he returns for the 2026/27 campaign having landed both the William Hill Premiership and the Scottish Cup this season.
“I think it is his decision,” he said. “It should be his decision, whether he wants to stay on or not. Only he can answer that.
“But I think the club should let him say what he wants to do. I don’t see many candidates out there who could do what he has done this season.
“It did not surprise me. So, if he stays on then great, if he doesn’t then the club should do something for him to recognise what he has brought to the club in these two spells.
“After the game, I just said to him, ‘Congratulations, I’m delighted for you, well done’. It was a nice moment.”
Celtic fans chanted the name of Lennon, who won 10 major honours during the two stints that he spent as manager at Parkhead, after their team’s win. “They weren’t singing it five years ago,” he joked.
The 54-year-old was disappointed when his team lost in the Premiership play-off semi-final to Partick Thistle last week and he admitted he is determined to return to East End Park and enjoy an even more successful season.
“My appetite has never changed,” he said. “Wherever I go I have the energy. I spoke to Gordon Strachan about it, and he said if you don’t have that get out. This time of year, you shed your skin. You drop off at the end of the season, get away on holiday and then you start to think about what is next.
“In terms of the team, we have a major rebuild coming up, a lot of these players will not be here next year. We've offered them contracts and they’ve stalled so I'm assuming they're going to go elsewhere.
“A lot of players we've given free transfers to already before this final. It's not going to be the team that we saw today. There's going to be a lot of changes. But hopefully we can build on the nucleus of the squad that we have.
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“I was really disappointed in the play-offs as well. I felt we were the better team against Partick Thistle in the two games. Our finishing let us down. I just thought today, the occasion startled them a little bit. But that's okay because it's their first final.
“Bottom line is we were playing the best team in the country who've got bags of quality and obviously came in off the back of winning the title last week. I hope we get the opportunity to come back again and learn from that experience.”
Lennon continued, “I’m positive about the future, of course I am. We've got a young, hungry squad that have excelled themselves this year. They've had a real taste of success. We've got to try and build on that, but there's no guarantees.
“We've got to get recruitment right and build on what we achieved this year. It's been an exciting season, there's no question. I’ve got to pay tribute to the supporters today, there was a hell of a turnout. It was magnificent. I'm glad they got to see a goal at the end of it.
“I have got to take a lot of positives from this season. We have got to a cup final and to the playoffs and just come up short. But I hate losing, even at 54. I am quite mellow at the minute, but the dog is in trouble when I get home!”
