TalkSPORT pundit John Hartson believes Neil Lennon has a good chance of securing the permanent job with Celtic, should the club go on to complete the historic treble this term. The Scottish champions have won every domestic trophy within reach in the past two-and-a-half seasons but this has not assured them of managerial surety with Brendan Rodgers recently stepping down to join Leicester City in the Premier League.

Amidst this, the Hoops have opted to hire Lennon on an interim role for the rest of the season but Hartson suggests that the Hoops favourite could continue at the helm next term. Speaking to TalkSPORT, Hartson stated that Lennon has the experience at the highest level after previously managing Celtic for four seasons where they were making progress in the Champions League.

He said: “I think he might need to go on (after the end of the season). “They are going to win the league as they are ten points clear“. There’s a lot to sort out, there’s five or six players that have to go back on loan. They will need to add more players. The Champions League qualifiers will start in June and they need to get another manager in. The Scottish Cup Final is on May 25, if they get there. For me, Neil has “done the job before“ and had great success. They’ve got a manager there who knows the job inside out.”

Lennon’s most memorable achievement remains the sensational Champions League triumph over Barcelona seven years ago but a repeat of something similar appears unlikely next term unless they can make progress to the group stage of the competition. For that, however, they have to go through the qualification phase starting from the first round. Celtic bowed out at the third qualifying round last time around after suffering a 3-2 aggregate defeat at the hands of AEK Athens.