Tom English, Chief Sportswriter for BBC Scotland joined Ger and Eoin on this morning's OTB AM to discuss Neil Lennon's precarious situation at Celtic.
Lennon has been given the dreaded vote of confidence, despite protests outside Celtic Park on Sunday night, following their defeat to Ross County.
Celtic are 11 points back from Premiership leaders Rangers, and despite having two games in hand, it feels increasingly like they're losing their grip on a famous 10-in-a-row.
And with expectations for silverware so high, Tom English says Celtic have found themselves hamstrung by the league table when it comes to attracting a replacement for Lennon.
"Any guy who comes in now, it's 10-in-a-row, or it's abuse from the fans. Not too many decent managers are going to sign up for that. They're kind of in a bit of a log jam.
"They're going all-in on Neil Lennon turning this around because they don't have another plan."
Tom English on Celtic
While Lennon has avoided the sack this week, he is still teetering perilously close to the edge.
English says that while Celtic have endured bad runs of form in the last couple of seasons before finding a way out of it, their current decline seems more-deep-rooted, and unlikely to be changed quickly.
"I wouldn't have been surprised if they got rid of him. I mean I would have been one of the people who said, 'Celtic will get this together, this is a bad run they're on, I've seen them on bad runs before and they've got themselves out of it and gone on a 10 or 12 match run'. But this is a deeper crisis than any one he's ever faced before," he said.
"There's something about this one that's more serious. Everyone said after the Ross County defeat on Sunday: 'He's gone, he can't survive this'. In theory yes, but nobody knows what's going on inside the head of Dermot Desmond, Ultimately he's the one that makes the decision."
The main factor standing in the way of dismissing Lennon appears to be loyalty. A club legend both as a player and manager, English says Lennon has earned the trust of owner Dermot Desmond, and Chief Executive Peter Lawwell.
"On one side when you look at the results, that demands the manager should be sacked, but on the other we have to factor in Dermot Desmond and Peter Lawwell's huge loyalty to Neil Lennon.
"The time is not limitless on the reprieve. If they keep losing - I think they'll lose tonight against AC Milan - if they lose or draw against St Johnston on Sunday in the league, we'll see more really ugly scenes, and we might see the end of Neil Lennon," English said.
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