Can Lenny sail the good ship Celtic?

After a season of upheaval, chaos, sackings and any other negative jargon you can think of to throw on the flaming bonfire that represents Celtic’s season, the club can currently be found lost on the footballing landscape somewhere between purgatory and hell.

Last season Gordon Strachan’s managerial incompetence (or possibly his hair) set a four-in-a-row dream alight, and then sent the fire-fighters in the direction of Ibrox with a gift wrapped title to a bunch of under-talented, pieced together, anti-football journeymen that now had the right to call themselves Champions. The cry of the faithful was unanimous and before you could say “velocity” Strachan had packed his bags and was heading in the same direction as Celtic’s title hopes.

Three weeks later and the words of chairman, John Reid, were resolute, “The fight back starts here today and there is nobody better to lead that fight back than Celtic’s own, and Celtic’s new manager, Tony Mowbray”.

Mowbray began his reign on the Parkhead steps talking of “football purity” and “players worthy of the club”. This quickly transcended into desperate Steve Staunton-esque rants about “five year plans” and, after a January transfer merry-go-round, ended in a humiliating 4-0 defeat to St. Mirren that had you wondering if nuclear testing was taking place in the Celtic changing rooms. Reid’s fight back had been about as ferocious as a kitten with a ball of string.

Crashing out of Europe before Christmas and a League campaign that provides fans with a sequel to the early nineties, Celtic now hold a platform to plant seeds for next season. The fight back starts here, maybe? And charged with bringing calm from the chaos is die-hard Celtic legend, Neil Lennon. Well at least in the interim anyway.

Two wins from two represents an excellent start for the Lurgan man, who’s made no secret of his desire to land the job full-time. And to secure the job on a permanent basis Lennon has issued himself with three difficult, yet realistic objectives:

• To beat Rangers for the first time this season in the final Old Firm game which takes place at Celtic Park after the split.
• To reduce the points gap between the clubs to as low a figure as possible.
• To win the Scottish Cup, and avoid Celtic’s first trophyless season since 2002-03.

So is the former midfielder’s management brand likely to bring a new Ferrari driven cruise to the Parkhead pitch or is the second hand Nissan Micra set to stay in the yard? Next up is the Scottish Cup semi-final against Ross County, followed by a home encounter against Motherwell.

Not exactly fixtures that would have former manager Martin O’Neill quaking in his boots, yet it’s the Derry man’s management guidelines that Lennon is most likely to reference on his 10-week interview process.

Immersed in the history and understanding of the club, as well as a long standing pupil of O’Neill’s success driven years, it’s possible that Lennon holds the ingredients to make a Pep Guardiola style impression on the managerial scene – with a little less style and elegance of course.

Despite his background, though, the Lurgan man’s ability to turn the current crop of Celtic misfits into a solid, fluid and cohesive unit will be the deciding factor on landing the hot seat full-time.

Perhaps not quite the shepherd leading the stray lambs back to the flock, but certainly restoring confidence and forging some semblance of team spirit into a group where ridicule has been fired openly will shape Lennon’s future.

Sifting through his above targets may seem formidable on paper, but the truth is by the time Rangers come to Parkhead their season will be winding down, while Dundee United represent the only creditable challenge left in the cup.

It’s worth pointing out that at no time could Mowbray instil a form of backbone or sense of purpose into the same group of players. However, by enforcing a “dogs of war” playing style and with the vastly overqualified, Robbie Keane, in Celtic’s corner for the duration of Lennon’s interim period, the former captain has every chance of turning wannabe into reality.

The lack of top quality coaches are conspicuous by their absence on the bookies shortlist and unless Celtic want an overrated Mark Hughes using their club as a stepping stone back to the Premiership, Lennon surely offers the best option. The stars appear to be aligning themselves in his direction. Watch this space!