Sportspeak understands that Glasgow Celtic have parted company with manager Tony Mowbray following Wednesday’s 4-0 defeat at St Mirren.Neil Lennon steps up to take charge after Mowbray’s backroom staff were given their P45s. Celtic will want a big name with Mark Hughes likely to head the running with David O’Leary a dark horse to resume his managerial career given the club’s Irish connection & the family connection after his brother Pierse played for the club & his nephew is also on the club’s books. Mowbray won 17 of the 30 league games played since he arrived from West Brom last June and struggled in Europe.The club trail their hated rivals Scottish Premier League leaders Rangers by 10 points, having played two more matches than their Old Firm rivals.Coach Neil Lennon will oversee first team matters on a game-by-game basis, with Kilmarnock visiting on Saturday.Lennon played for Celtic between 2000 and 2007, captaining the club in his last two seasons. He returned as a coach in April 2008 and had been in charge of the Under-19 team during Mowbray’s time in Glasgow.
The move to promote Lennon comes after assistant manager Mark Venus and first team coach Peter Grant departed along with Mowbray.A former defender at the club between 1991 and 1995, Mowbray succeeded Gordon Strachan to become the 16th manager of Celtic, with West Brom receiving £2m in compensation.The affable figure had been one of three managers targeted, along with Burnley’s Owen Coyle, now at Bolton, and Swansea’s Roberto Martinez, now at Wigan.On his arrival, he said he lived by a code of “honesty, integrity, humility and respect” and he hoped to bring those qualities to the Celtic team.However, his reign was not a happy one, beginning with elimination from the Champions League, albeit against a slick Arsenal side, who have progressed with ease to the last eight of the tournament.Dropping into the Europa League, Celtic were expected to qualify from a group that included Hamburg, Rapid Vienna and Hapoel Tel-Aviv, but they could only muster six points from six games, with just one win.
The domestic season started brightly and Celtic were four points ahead of Rangers going into the first Old Firm derby of the season on 4 October, but they lost 2-1 at Ibrox.And away matches proved to be Mowbray Achilles heel, with Wednesday’s 4-0 drubbing by St Mirren heralding Celtic’s sixth league defeat on the road.Strachan had won three titles in four seasons at Celtic Park but Mowbray quickly set about dismantling the squad he inherited, bringing in a raft of new faces.
The big money loan arrival of Spurs striker Robbie Keane in January briefly lifted spirits among supporters but Celtic could not make inroads into Rangers’ lead.Mowbray had a long career at Middlesbrough before his switch to Celtic and later moved on to Ipswich, where he started his coaching career.He had a brief spell as caretaker boss at Portman Road after the sacking of former Scotland boss George Burley before becoming a manager in his own right at Hibernian.Mowbray led the Edinburgh club to two top-four finishes in 2005 and 2006, after which he left for West Brom.He led the Baggies to the Championship play-offs, losing to Derby, but the following season they won the title and promotion to the Premier League.However, they only lasted a season in England’s top tier and were relegated, despite receiving plaudits for their attacking style of football.His summer switch to Celtic Park was greeted with widespread enthusiasm among the Celtic faithful but few of those will lament his departure.