MX23RW : Saturday, December 14 08:19:08| >> :120:15487:15487:

Lennon poised to return as Celtic boss as Rodgers talks with Leicester

Lennon poised to return as Celtic boss as Rodgers talks with Leicester
© Reuters
The Parkhead club "very reluctantly" granted their 46-year-old manager permission to hold talks with the Premier League outfit on Tuesday.

Neil Lennon is poised to return as Celtic manager after Brendan Rodgers opened talks with Leicester on Tuesday.

The Parkhead club "very reluctantly" granted their 46-year-old manager permission to hold discussions with the Premier League outfit, who are looking for a successor to Claude Puel following his dismissal on Sunday.

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell and Lennon's agent Martin Reilly were spotted entering the club's Lennoxtown training complex later in the day as the Ladbrokes Premiership champions look to implement a contingency plan ahead of their clash with Hearts on Wednesday.

A Celtic statement read: "Celtic Football Club today confirmed that it has been approached by Leicester City FC to speak to Brendan Rodgers with regards to their current managerial vacancy.

"Brendan has indicated to the club that this is an opportunity he wishes to investigate further and therefore, very reluctantly, the club has granted him permission to speak to Leicester City."

It has been reported that former Hoops captain Lennon is set to become interim manager until the end of the season.

Lennon won three league titles and two Scottish Cups in just over four years as Celtic manager after taking over from Tony Mowbray, initially on a temporary basis, in March 2010.

Neil Lennon
Neil Lennon won three league titles and two Scottish Cups as Celtic manager (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Rodgers' imminent departure has caused some shock among the Celtic fans. The former Liverpool boss has been in charge at Parkhead since 2016 and led Celtic to an unprecedented domestic double-treble with the Hoops on course for a third.

Celtic are eight points clear of Rangers with the Betfred Cup already in the trophy room and with a William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-final against Hibernian, whom Lennon left in January, to come at Easter Road on Saturday.

However, it is understood the former Swansea boss has always wanted to return to the Premier League at some stage.

He now has the chance to take over the club which pulled off a stunning title triumph in 2016.

Leicester sacked manager Claude Puel on Sunday and are holding talks with Brendan Rodgers.
Leicester sacked manager Claude Puel (pictured) on Sunday and are holding talks with Brendan Rodgers (John Walton/PA)

Puel was sacked the day after Saturday's 4-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace.

The loss saw Leicester slip to 12th in the table and left them still looking for their first win of 2019 following a miserable run which also saw them knocked out of the FA Cup at League Two Newport.

If appointed, Rodgers will become Leicester's third permanent manager since they sacked title-winning boss Claudio Ranieri in February 2017.

Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton criticised Rodgers over the timing of his expected departure.

Sutton told BT Sport's Twitter account: "The timing of it stinks. He's going to a club who are playing for absolutely nothing – they are not going to get relegated, they are not going to get into Europe – and I am really disappointed.

"I think there are a lot of Celtic fans out there as well who will feel let down.

"This is the job which Brendan said was his dream job. So why is he going now to a club who have nothing to play for?"

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Press Association sport staff');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', 'c90ce073-14af-45bf-9f32-73e90914b918');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Lennon poised to return as Celtic boss as Rodgers talks with Leicester'});

ID:351614: cacheID:351614:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:9425:
Written by
P A
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers pictured on February 13, 2019
Read Next:
Celtic 'reluctantly' give Rodgers permission to talk to Leicester
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Celtic1514104444043
2Aberdeen16104230181234
3RangersRangers1510232791832
4Dundee UnitedDundee Utd156632215724
5Motherwell157171823-522
6Dundee165472729-219
7St Mirren165381926-718
8Ross County163671230-1815
9St Johnstone1642101829-1114
10Kilmarnock163581734-1714
11Hearts163491825-713
12Hibernian162681828-1012


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!