Lennon responds to latest Norwich speculation

Neil Lennon has spoken out about increasing speculation linking him with Norwich City.

Chris Hughton is under increasing pressure with the Canaries deep in the relegation fight with chief executive David McNally going public with his concerns about the situation.

Lennon and former Norwich favourite Malky Mackay have been linked with a move to Carrow Road but the Celtic boss was keen to distance himself from the speculation.

The Celtic boss was in Dublin last night working as a pundit for TV3 Sport Ireland’s coverage of the Manchester City v Barcelona match when the subject of Norwich was brought up.

“I can’t comment on it, Norwich have got a manager, they have a very good manager in Chris Hughton,” Lennon said.

“I can’t say anything about speculation, it’s always flattering but it would be wrong of me to make any sort of comment at all on it at the minute.”

Asked whether he had did all he could at Celtic Lennon replied saying: “Being a manager you can’t pick and choose where you want to go. I’m very lucky to be the manager of Celtic, it’s a privilidge that I’ve had for almost four years, I’m just really getting my teeth into it now.

“There’s a lot of challenges that lie ahead for me in the occupation that I’m in. I’ve got a big job on my hands, we’ve got a rebuilding job to do, we’re not far away from another title and with a bit of luck we can be back in the Champions League next season.”

“It would be almost delinquent of the football club to not be aware of potential candidates if for any reason your manager left,” Norwich chief, and former Celtic commercial director, McNally told the local Eastern Daily Press.

“If results are not good enough you have to be aware of who is out there to help. You look at the market and who might be right for Norwich City.

“If we needed to make a change – and the average tenure of a Premier League manager is about a year and a half, which puts Chris in the top six or top eight longest serving right now – then if a change was necessary it wouldn’t be a case of, who are the contenders?

“It would be a case of reviewing what is required, where are we going and who is best placed to take the club forward.”