Neil Lennon

Dunfermline want Neil Lennon to become their next manager, with the former Celtic boss considering a bumper offer tabled by the Championship club.

The Pars parted company with Michael Tidser this week after just 60 days and 11 matches in charge

Concerned they were heading to League One unless they relieved the 35-year-old of his duties, they immediately looked to recruit an experienced hand.


Mail Sport understands that Lennon’s name immediately topped their list, and that he is now on the brink of returning to frontline management with the Fife outfit.

Lennon left Romanian club Rapid Bucharest last year and, while he has worked in the media since, he has been keen to get back into management.

The 53-year-old had two spells in charge at Parkhead, as well as spells with Bolton, Hibs and Omonia in Cyprus.

Dunfermline are confident that he will be in the dug-out immediately after the international break

That would see Lennon take the side for the first time at Somerset Park against Ayr United, who are managed by former Celtic skipper Scott Brown.

 

Would be a good appointment for them. Should still be able to do a job at that level and you would imagine they would get a reaction in the next few games.

 

I’ll miss him as a pundit, he’s downplayed a lot as our manager but it shows the way he breaks down * tactically why he was successful here and his success in Europe at points.

Shame that he’s stuck in the same mindset about sports science, fitness, injuries etc as it was when he was a player.

 

Neil Lennon has agreed a deal to become the next manager of Dunfermline Athletic.

The former Celtic and Hibs boss will sign a short term deal until the end of the season as he aims to save the Pars from relegation to League One, with the view to a three year deal if he is successful.

Dunfermline find themselves second bottom of the Scottish Championship and managerless after Michael Tidser’s stint in charge was cut short after only 11 games.

Lennon has been out of work since a three month spell at Rapid București in August 2024.

 

Good luck to him. Hopefully does enough to get himself that 3 year deal.

 

Absolutely wish Lenny well. Hopefully it's a successful move for him.

 

I reckon he could get them back to the prem in 3 years.

 

Dunfermline Athletic are delighted to announce the appointment of Neil Lennon as First Team Manager on an initial short term deal, until the end of the season.

Neil Lennon has a seriously successful track record as a manager. He won five titles at Celtic, four Scottish Cups and one League Cup. He managed Celtic as manager and caretaker for 335 matches. At Hibernian he won the Championship and in Cyprus the national cup competition with Omonia.

His first taste of management was as Assistant at Celtic before taking charge of Celtic B for the 2009-2010 season. He took over as first team manager in March 2010 on the departure of Tony Mowbray. Neil took charge of Bolton Wanderers in October 2014 and his tenure there lasted 79 games until returning to Scotland to manage Hibs for the 2016-2017 season and a further 18 months. He managed the Easter Road side for 122 games.

Neil returned as Caretaker manager at Celtic in February 2019 taking over as manager for the start of the following season for 94 more matches. He went on to manage Omonia Nicosia to winning the Cypriot Cup and his last position was at FC Rapid Bucharest.

The 53 year old was born in Lurgan and as a player made over 700 senior appearances, initially making an impact at Crewe Alexandria, then at Leicester City and Celtic. A central midfielder, he won 40 international caps for Northern Ireland.

Joining Neil will be coach Iain Brunskill. After serving as assistant Academy Technical Director at Liverpool for a decade, Iain spent time at Norwich, Blackpool, QPR and most recently Rapid București as assistant coach under Neil.



Chairman and CEO David Cook commented, “Firstly I’d like to welcome Neil and Iain to KDM Group East End Park. We very quickly identified Neil as the outstanding candidate for the role. Having managed at the very highest level in the country he will bring a huge wealth of experience to the club.

Whilst it’s been a team effort in securing the services of such a high calibre manager, this wouldn’t have been possible without James Bord’s personal involvement in the negotiations.

Neil has already started work preparing for next Saturday’s match with Ayr United and with seven matches remaining we know our supporters will get behind Neil, Iain and the rest of the staff and squad as we fight to maintain our Championship placing.”

Our new manager added, “I’m very excited about the prospect of joining Dunfermline Athletic Football Club. Once I spoke to James Bord he put across a very compelling proposition on his ambitions for the club. However, short term our aim is obviously to be in the Championship next season.

Having watched the match against Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup it’s clear there’s talent in the squad, perhaps just a little low on confidence at the minute. What we want to do is bring an energy, confidence and an exciting brand of football. It may not happen instantly but we want to play on the front foot, excite supporters and get the players believing in what we’re doing. ”

 

Lenny redemption arc starts here!

 

First game up against broony. That'll be interesting

 

Wish him well and every success. Will miss him off the tele but fair play to him, what a great first game too.

 

Wonder what Sutton thinks about that

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Don't know if I would want him if I were a Dunfermline supporter but fair play to him to go to a lower league to proof himself!

 

I don't think dunfermline could do any better so a smart appointment from their perspective.

They were shocking last week against Raith so will need quite the effort to turn them around

 

Either that, or it's the end of his managerial career.

1 job the now, keep Dunfermline up. That's it.

 

He'll be back at Parkhead in no time as Broonies assistant...

 

Here's a mental stat, scored 3 league goals for us, one against Hibs and the other two against Dunfermline, went on to manage Hibs and Dunfermline

 

And……..he got booked in his first game