The first question the new Celtic manager should ask Peter Lawwell is how much?
How much money will I have to spend on the team?
How much time will I be given?
How much control will I have?
As the Ronny Deila experiment comes to a brutal end it is time for the Hoops to regroup and rebuild in preparation for challenges old and new next season.
Rangers will be playing top flight football for the first time in four years, but they will perform in a division which has changed significantly in their absence.
A resurgent Aberdeen are on the rise while Hearts, who won the Championship comfortably last season, have their sights on closing the gap at the top of the table as well.
It is going to take a strong man with considerable backing to fend off the ever-increasing list of challengers and the spectacle of four Old Firm matches in the season must alter Celtic’s approach.
Is there a man out there who is willing to accept the financial constraints and face those challenges head on?
Old Firm supporters have constantly clamoured for a “Celtic man” or someone who is “Rangers-minded” for their dugout.
Neither club has gone through this campaign with a man of that stature in charge, but while Rangers’ appointment Mark Warburton has done the job asked of him the Hoops have failed to convince.
David Moyes, Roy Keane, Michael O’Neill and Malky Mackay are among the early names to be mentioned for the role and would appear to fit the bill.
Out with the old, in with the older at Parkhead?
Neil Lennon has already signalled his interest in returning to Celtic.
Lennon won three Premiership titles and two Scottish Cups and took the Hoops into the Champions League during the four years he spent as Hoops manager before he left in 2014 to be replaced by Deila.
Speaking at The John Hartson Foundation charity golf day at Mar Hall, on the outskirts of Glasgow yesterday, the former Celtic midfielder, a free agent following an unsuccessful 17-month stint as Bolton manager, has already thrown his hat into the ring. When asked if he would be interested in going back to Parkhead Lennon said: “Absolutely. I would definitely be interested.
“I am not promoting myself for it but you asked me an honest question and I am giving you an honest answer.”
Lennon is better placed than anyone to know the identikit needed for the job and while he is interested he knows he will not be the only one paying attention to events at Parkhead.
He said: “I think they will have someone in mind and there will be a long list of candidates for the job now because it is still a very attractive job for anyone.
“I was associated with the club for 15 years.
“I missed it when I left as a player and there are aspects I miss even now at 44 years of age.
“And you see an event such as Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final, the passion and the crowd and what it means to so many people, there are not many clubs who can generate that sort of enticement.
“I don’t think there is a lot wrong.
“A couple of tweaks here and there and there needs to be an injection of pace into the team in certain areas.
“There is always a huge fall-out from these games. You are the worst team in the world when you lose and the best team when you win.
“But I don’t think there is a lot wrong with the team a couple of additions would make a lot better.”
Finding a successor can wait for now as Deila focuses on the task of winning a fifth league title in a row for the club.
Celtic are eight points ahead of Aberdeen at the top of the table with five post-split fixtures remaining.
However, Lennon believes the defeat to a weakened Rangers side, on the back of failing for the second season to take the club into the Cham-pions League, was probably the last straw.
The Northern Irishman said: “You know how important Europe can be.
“There is always a fall-out when you don’t qualify for the Champions League, there is a bit of a hangover for a club such as Celtic.
“Domestically the object was to win the treble and I think there was a fall-out after losing to Ross County in the League Cup semi-final as well.
“But the acid test was Sunday and although they lost in sudden death penalty kicks, I think the overall performance was disappointing from Celtic’s point of view.
“It is a very unforgiving environment at times.
“But I just think Celtic this season haven’t handled the big games as well as they normally do.
“I think Ronny will be far better off with the experience.
“If you can manage here for a couple of years or whatever length of time it is, it will stand you in good stead for whatever you want to go into after that.
“I am hoping Ronny will be able to enjoy his last month or two as manager and get over the line with another champion-ship.
“That would be a nice way to finish off.”
