WHETHER Neil Lennon is the right man for the Celtic job or not is a matter of opinion, and the only opinions that really matter – those of Peter Lawwell and Dermot Desmond – were firmly in the affirmative.

The decision to appoint Lennon at first appeared to be made in knee-jerk fashion, amid triumphant scenes in the Celtic dressing room following their Scottish Cup final win over Hearts and the delivery of the treble Treble. Lawwell was quick to dampen fears that such an important call had been made on raw emotion, but the way he did so arguably raised more concerns over the recruitment process for Celtic’s new manager than it allayed.

Seemingly, it was always Lennon’s job to lose after he stepped into the breach following the departure of Brendan Rodgers. Based on what he has achieved since, albeit splitting the fanbase with the aesthetics, you can make a strong argument in favour of his appointment on the bare facts of getting Celtic over the line in both the league and the Scottish Cup. But it is harder to argue that as Celtic chief executive, Lawwell shouldn’t at least have been casting his net as wide as possible to unearth the best possible candidate.

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“We had approaches from many, many agents, many representatives of managers across the board,” Lawwell said. “How credible it was, you never really know. We put them in the file, just left it and kept our word to Neil, really.”

These words will be concerning to many Celtic supporters, and not necessarily because of Lennon’s appointment. Had a thorough recruitment process taken place, Lennon may well have still turned out to be the best man for the job. His credentials in terms of the trophies he has delivered to the club in the past, over and above the credible points raised by Lawwell about him knowing the club and the city as Celtic enter the final stretch in their quest for a 10th league title in a row, mark him out as a strong candidate.

A question that many Celtic supporters may be asking though, is who else the club could have got? Names like Rafa Benitez, Jose Mourinho and Andres Villas-Boas were never realistic given the wages they can command elsewhere. But that is precisely the point, who else could Celtic have got? Do the Celtic board know? Did they even try to find out?

The board will now be open to accusations of a dereliction of duty should the appointment of Lennon not work out. There is history at stake, and having neglected to perform a thorough recruitment process, the Celtic board are all-in with Lennon.

The Herald:

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Now they must push their chips in to back their man and give him the best possible chance of success. While Lawwell was quick to reassure supporters, and possibly his manager, that would be the case this summer, his playing down of the scale of the rebuild required may well alarm supporters too.

There are indeed wonderful players at the club. You don’t win a Treble any other way. The dressing room is full of winners who have delivered success consistently, and there is a strong core of Scottish talent who have come up through the club at its centre.

That will provide a formidable base to build from, but build Celtic must. The rise of Rangers on the other side of the city may have been overplayed a little, but Celtic cannot afford to ignore the threat Steven Gerrard’s side are likely to pose next season.

The likelihood is that their rivals will improve further, and with just two titles now separating Celtic from the magic 10, they cannot afford to regress to a point where they could be overtaken.

Mikael Lustig, Emilio Izaguirre, Dedryck Boyata, Filip Benkovic, Oliver Burke and Timothy Weah have either left Celtic or are likely to during the summer. From that alone, you could argue two full-backs, two centre-backs and another attacking option are the bare minimum requirement.

Of those who look to be remaining, the inconsistency of the likes of Scott Sinclair, Tom Rogic and Olivier Ntcham means that Celtic can’t hang their hat on them. And although it is to be hoped that Leigh Griffiths will be back firing on all cylinders next term, it is impossible to know if that will be the case.

The Herald:

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So, while Lawwell may have a point about the squad not requiring a major rebuild if he is referring to sheer numbers, he is wide of the mark in terms of quality. If there are to be four or perhaps five new arrivals, they have to be of a sufficient standard to improve the first-team.

If that is delivered, the Celtic support’s uneasiness may well be quelled. And the Celtic board will have given their man, Neil Lennon, the best possible chance of bringing the continued success to the club that he so craves.

He has taken Celtic over the line with someone else’s players, so he deserves the chance now to show what he can do with his own.