NEIL LENNON would once have laughed had you suggested that a long board meeting on a Friday would set him up for a good summer.
However, life is a strange old thing and so at the end of last week at Easter Road, in one of the posh rooms the Hibernian manager’s mood improved greatly after detailed discussions about where the club goes from here.
After losing to Hearts this month, robbing him of the chance to finish second, Lennon claimed he would “think about his future this summer” and while that was said, at least partly, in the moment’s heat, he was looking for assurance.
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And such promises were delivered by Leann Dempster, the Hibs chief executive, which means the Northern Irishman is staying at Leith.
Lennon said: “We had a good four-hour meeting last Friday on recruitment. It was interesting. If we can’t get some deals done with current players then we’ve got a few decent ones lined up.
“ I should give more credit to my scouting department who have done a very good job, as they did in January.
“They’ve been working away all season on getting things ready for the summer. Whether we lose players or not - and we’ve lost players before - I don’t think it’s a major rebuilding job.
“It might be difficult to improve last year but not impossible. There’s a wage for certain positions and players that we can go to now that we couldn’t do this time last year and that gives you a lift.
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“It’s very early days in the process and some of the guys are away for a wee break but when they come back we’ll be hoping to get a couple over the line.”
Lennon and his staff are waiting on a lot of players to make their minds up about what they will do next. He has players on loan, others clubs will bid for and, of course, his own transfer targets.
The manager does seem relaxed about it all, although he did have some encouraging news.
"We are not sure on Dylan McGeouch,” he said. “That’s one that could come back. There could a positive on that because there’s no firm answer on what he’s doing.
“We’re still in negotiations with Florian Kamberi. We’ve held positive talks with him and his representative.
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“The talks are still ongoing and it’s the same with Jamie Maclaren and Scott Allan. It’s still early days and they’re all difficult to do in their own individual ways.
“I’m certainly not writing any of them off but there’s a bit of work to do which we always assumed would happen.
“We’ve had good success after two years and it’s always difficult to rip it up and start again. There’s going to be a bit of work but we have plenty of options and players to look at."
Neil Lennon was speaking at the SPFL Trust's Annual Golf Day with proceeds going to mental health training in Scottish football.
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