LAWWELL MAY FOLLOW LENNON OUT OF PARKHEAD

BY ANDY RITCHIE

I WAS spot on when I was the first to reveal that Neil Lennon would be leaving Celtic.

Followers of No Grey Areas were tipped off weeks ago that Lennon was poised to quit. Now I believe a second high profile figure may soon follow Lennon out of Celtic Park – chief executive Peter Lawwell.

The majority shareholder Dermot Desmond wants Roy Keane as Lennon’s successor and I believe that could hasten Lawwell’s departure.

Why do I think that? My gut instinct is that Keane wouldn’t be Lawwell’s preferred choice. Keane doesn’t strike me as the sort who is prepared to compromise and take instructions. I also get the distinct impression that when he sets his mind on doing something, he’s unshakable.

Lennon was Lawwell’s man. Keane is Desmond’s and I suspect there would be an inevitable clash of personalities.

It’s no secret either that Lawwell has been touting himself for high-powered chief executives roles with Premiership clubs. He was keen on the Arsenal job and there have been one or two others.

So, watch this space, and remember who told you first when there are further changes at the top at Celtic.

To be honest, I do think Lawwell really wanted to do more to try to persuade Lennon to stay. I believe he had already made his mind up that next season would be Lennon’s last and it suited him when the manager announced he was quitting.

No great effort was made to persuade Johan Mjallby to stay and it was made clear that other changes were required in the coaching staff, including Garry Parker leaving.

I reckon Lawwell thought the treble was a gimme, given how little pressure there is on Celtic at the moment domestically.

Lawwell expected a clean sweep of honours and losing to Morton in the League Cup and going out of the Scottish Cup to Aberdeen constituted major disappointments.

So, no great effort was made to keep Lennon. Significantly, there has been no gnashing of teeth or wailing from within in the wake of the announcement.

At least that was the feeling I got and I am sure Lennon read all the signs and reacted accordingly.

But if he’s honest with himself, he’ll probably reflect that he should have acted sooner when his stock was at its highest in the wake of Celtic beating Barcelona and qualifying for the last 16 in the Champions League.

If Keane does get the job I expect he’ll shake the place up and the fact that there are no credible challengers to Celtic’s dominance in the SPFL and Rangers are still stumbling around in the wilderness would probably make the transition fairly straightforward.

But while Desmond would be quite happy to see Keane in charge, I don’t think Lawwell would share that feeling.

Lennon was Lawwell’s man and he had to put up with a lot. Keane does not fit into the same category, in my opinion.

But, let’s be perfectly frank, the Honey Monster could move into the Celtic dug-out at the moment and be expected to win the treble.

But,  judging by their initial reaction to the news, whether the fans feel the same way about Keane is a different matter entirely.

DON’T BREAK JAMBO GARY’S HEART, ANN

BY ANDY RITCHIE

THE buzz is that Craig Levein is set to return to Tynecastle as manager under the new regime.

If so, it will be an act of sheer madness. Hearts are on a roll under Gary Locke and the signs are extremely encouraging.

Locke is a Jambo through and through. I’m sure if you cut him he would bleed maroon.

He knows the club inside, out and he’s respected. The fans want him to stay and, more importantly, so do the players.

Several of them have come out publicly to pledge their support and that tells you the manager has the respect of the dressing room.

Consider the facts. Hearts were behind the eight ball right from the very start. Financial turmoil, the threat of liquidation, a 15 point deduction for going into administration, and a signing ban before a ball had even been kicked.

What hope did they have of avoiding the drop? Not a snowball’s chance in hell. It was always just a question of when their fate would be sealed.

That must have been extremely demoralising for all concerned. The psychological damage of knowing they had to win six matches just to put points on the board must have been huge.

It was as if once the death sentence had been pronounced all that remained was for the date of execution to be set.

But Hearts earned several reprieves before being forced to bow to the inevitable and that says much about the spirit in the camp.

It would have been easy for the players to have thrown in the towel and given it up as a bad job. Instead, they rolled their sleeves up and tried to achieve the virtually impossible and Locke must have been the inspirational force.

Just imagine if Hearts had begun their current remarkable revival six games sooner. We might have been talking about the Great Escape.

As it is, Hearts are heading for the Championship with all guns blazing and Rangers will do well to avoid a bullet or two next season.

I am not saying Hearts will sweep straight back into the top flight, but they’ll certainly be a handful.

Circumstances forced Locke to give the youngsters their head and they are a year older and wiser and less prone to naivety and basic errors.

Young players are also resilient and the recent winning run will have boosted their confidence no end.

There’s no shortage of talent either as far as I can see. Locke clearly has an eye for spotting potential and he’s exploited that talent.

So, what would be the point in changing the manager before Locke has even had a chance to test himself on a more even playing field?

He deserves another season at least for the splendid job he has done during one of the most difficult and testing periods in Hearts’ history.

 So, my message to Ann Budge is this: Stick with what you have rather than risk fresh instability.

Talk of instability, what the hell’s going on at my old club Morton?

One truly did fly over the cuckoo’s nest when Kenny Shiels oversaw a humiliating 10-2 defeat at Hamilton.

Kenny fancies himself as a psychologist. After that result the entire management team and players should have been forced to consult a shrink.

At least Shiels did the honourable thing and fell on his sword - or at least we are told he resigned. But it was clearly one of those ones - jump before you’re pushed!

The signing of Garry O’Connor alone was grounds enough for being given the sack. Those amongst the older generation of Morton fans who questioned my fitness and training methods must be misty eyed at the memory of the goals I scored when they look at O’Connor.

But while Shiels was culpable, players and officials must also shoulder part of the blame for the club’s dramatic decline – even the chairman.

Douglas Rae has done a lot for the club and deserves due credit from the people of Greenock. Without his financial support, Morton might well have ceased to exist.

But he appointed Shiels in the first place and bought into Kenny’s mumbo jumbo so can’t escape criticism.

But I’ve heard on the grapevine that Morton is going to remain full-time next season and that’s heartening if it is the case.

However, I fear for the long term future of the club, for they aren’t going to find it easy to claw their way out of League One.

Attendances have plummeted in the wake of this season’s results and it’s going to be extremely difficult regaining the confidence and support of the locals.

ROVERS AND OUT! - By Andy Ritchie

ANDY RITCHIE RECALLS A BRIEF LOVE AFFAIR WITH SCOTTISH CUP SHOCK SIDE ALBION ROVERS AND THE TIME HIS CAREER VERY NEARLY WENT TO THE DOGS.

MY time as Albion Rovers’ player-manager was so short-lived that I am struggling to even recall exactly when it was and how long it lasted.

But it was certainly eventful. Ashtrays full of fag ends and a bath that looked like it had been used for dipping sheep!

I even had to share an office with the old guy who was the handicapper for the dogs after he had threatened to throw me out.

Cliftonhill Stadium has never been a place for the faint hearted. Did I just say ‘Stadium’ – now that’s really pushing it!

I was persuaded by my former Morton boss, Benny Rooney, to become Andy of the Rovers at the end of the 1984-85 season – I think – as they were desperately short of players. They must have been to want me.

Then Benny left to join Partick Thistle and the Rovers chairman, the legendary Tam Fagan asked me if I fancied the job of player-manager.

I was 28 at the time and I ended up playing six games and scoring twice. But, for the life of me, I can’t remember how long my brief managerial reign lasted. Not long, that’s for sure.

The legend that was former Hibs, Torino, Arsenal and England striker Joe Baker was about the place as a sort of jack-of-all-trades, head sponge man and chief motivator, that sort of thing.

Joe was working as a scaffolder and just wanted to have an involvement in the game and I wasn’t going to turn him down when he asked to stay on.

He was, in fact, the best thing that happened to me. A true gent, Joe had played at the highest level and I fed off his stories and knowledge of the game, so having him around was a godsend.

My first day in the job I arrived in the manager’s office to discover a desk and a chair and little else, apart from an old tin ashtray that was overflowing with 150 dog ends and hadn’t been emptied in months.

The office was in such a filthy state of disrepair you wouldn’t have kept horses in it! But I quickly discovered a canine connection!

Suddenly the door burst open and in walked this gnarled old guy who asked what I was doing sitting there in his chair. I informed him in no uncertain terms that I was the manager and that it was my office.

“What do you mean, your office? You’ll need to find somewhere else,” he shot back before proceeding to come round the desk and open a drawer.

I was none too pleased, I can tell you. But it turned out he was the handicapper for the dogs after they had switched from speedway to greyhound racing.

I thought to myself, “How the mighty have fallen.” But I won the argument all the same.

Mind you, I don’t know why I bothered. The place was a tip. It hadn’t seen a lick of paint in years and the bath in the home dressing room looked like it had been used to dip sheep.

I think the club only had something like nine registered players and as we had a Lanarkshire Cup-tie coming up against Motherwell I told Tam that I would need finances to make signings.

The old boy told me to go ahead and sign whoever I liked and I knew the very man who could do us a turn, Bernie Slaven, who had just been released by Queen of the South.

Bernie was considering an approach from junior side Rutherglen Glencairn, who were offering him a £250 signing-on fee and twelve quid a week, and I said we’d match that.

Bernie accepted my offer and agreed to complete the formalities the following day. But when I told Tam he almost burst a blood vessel.

“He’s s...e,” he exploded. “You’re no signin’ him. I saw him play for Queens last season and he was f.....g rubbish.”

But I said I would pay Bernie out of my own pocket, if necessary and retain his registration. I wish I had after what later transpired.

Tam told me I could do what I liked. But the following morning he reappeared with 250 of the grubbiest one pound notes I’ve ever seen and the deal was done. He also informed me there would be no more cash for players.

I wonder how the old boy reacted when Bernie scored 27 goals that season and Rovers later pocketed £35,000 when they sold him to Middlesbrough?

Bernie, who also made it into the Republic of Ireland squad for the 1990 World Cup finals, was a lovely lad and he once left a couple of bottles of champagne on my doorstep as a ‘thank you’ after he had been presented with a case of bubbly by a newspaper for his scoring exploits.

Things have clearly changed at Rovers since my time. The people now running the club have smartened the place up and given it an occasional much-needed lick of paint.

Rovers are also enjoying a Scottish Cup cash windfall from their quarter-final against Rangers and the additional money they’ll get from the replay being on Sky.

That will make a huge difference to them and could lead to a dramatic revival in fortunes and bring the club into 2014. I certainly hope so.

The personnel running the club had replaced the dead and dying who used to inhabit the boardroom, but maybe some things never change.

I wonder if they’ve found any skeletons in the cupboard – those of dogs, sheep and old nags?