It was confirmed on Wednesday morning that Neil Lennon has departed his role as manager of Celtic with immediate effect.
A season in which the Glasgow club were seeking to complete their 10th successive Scottish Premiership win, it has dramatically fallen apart for Celtic as Rangers romp to a first triumph under Steven Gerrard.
On Wednesday's OTB AM, Robert Grieve of The Scottish Sun joined the lads to break down some of the major reasons for Lennon's exit and why there is plenty of blame to go around.
Neil Lennon leaves Celtic
Letting the 10-in-a-row slip:
Without question, the negativity surrounding Lennon's second spell in charge of the club among Celtic's fans has been a contributing factor to his departure.
A season in which they could have achieved something truly unique, Lennon's side have been blown out of the water by Steven Gerrard's Rangers.
"Clearly the fans have been very unhappy," commented Robert Grieve on Wednesday's OTB AM, "it is not so long ago that they were outside the stadium calling for Lennon's head.
"They'll be happy this morning that the decision has been made."
On the continent, Grieve also highlighted Celtic's "embarrassing" Champions League exit and subsequently tame Europa League as further proof that a change is necessary.
Poor recruitment:
For many onlookers of an Irish persuasion, the loan move of Shane Duffy to Celtic this season had appeared an ideal move for a player in need of game time and with a personal affinity for the club.
Although the Ireland international's fate at Celtic Park has been less than ideal, it is not the only issue Celtic have had in terms of recruitment.
"Look at the goalkeeper," he said, "they put all their eggs in one basket with Fraser Forster and that didn't happen. Craig Gordon was allowed to go and they brought in another 'keeper who has been nowhere near good enough.
"You can go through the various positions, players they've tried to sign but didn't get, and they've ended up with the squad they've ended up with."
Players uncommitted to the cause:
Despite the chance of making history this season, Robert Grieve believes that a lot of Celtic's undoing came as a result of players uncommitted to the club's well-being.
"You have key players in the team who got it into their heads that they would be leaving last summer," explained Grieve. "Now, there's been a pandemic obviously, the goalposts moved and Celtic didn't sell these players.
"The 10-in-a-row was there, but I think there were players more interested in getting a move and for all intents and purposes they put the tools away."
The Dubai situation:
A public relations nightmare for Celtic, shortly after the club lost an Old Firm Derby to Rangers last month they jetted off to Dubai for some R&R - and training, so it was said.
"That was another embarrassment," claimed Grieve.
At the time of that trip, Tom English of BBC Scotland spoke to OTB AM.
"They literally went from Ibrox to Glasgow Airport and flew to Dubai," he explained. "Photographs then of Scott Brown and Neil Lennon sitting by a pool with a couple of beers in between them - it probably wasn't the cleverest thing to do when you're 19 points behind [Rangers] and your supporters are going doolally.
"It is a PR horror-show for Celtic [but] an illustration of how this football club after eight years of making very good decisions have started to make one bad decision after another."
You can watch back Robert Grieve on Wednesday's OTB AM where he speculates about the likely candidates to replace Neil Lennon at Celtic here
OTB AM is brought to you in association with Gillette | #MadeOfWhatMatters
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
