Why Lucien Favre won’t replace Neil Lennon as Celtic boss

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:40 CDT
• 3 min read

Lucien Favre has been linked with the vacant managerial role at Celtic Park this week, but it is believed any move to Glasgow will be unlikely for the 63-year-old.

The Hoops have dominated Scottish football over the past nine years and were going for their historic 10th title in a row in 2020/21 – a feat never achieved before in Scotland.

READ MORE: With Roy Keane linked with Celtic, how have his Man Utd team-mates of old fared with management?

However, standards dropped significantly under Neil Lennon from the years of their previous successes, which allowed Steven Gerrard and Rangers to come in and win the Scottish Premiership with relative ease.

Lennon was sacked as manager not long after Rangers’ league win was confirmed, which catalysed speculation as to who may take over at Celtic Park.

Several names have been mentioned including Roy Keane, Eddie Howe, Rafael Benitez, Steve Clarke, Thierry Henry and Enzo Maresca.

According to the Daily Mail, Favre, who was recently fired by Borussia Dortmund, would be open to the idea of replacing Lennon.

However, judging by the comments made by one of his close confidants, that won’t be happening.

“I am told that Lucien Favre is very happy with his family in his village of Saint Barthelemy in Switzerland and that his future position will be close there,” friend Paul Breitner told RMC.

Favre is apparently on the shortlist to take over both at Lyon and Bayer Leverkusen, and with him not willing to stray far away from his family for a job, these opportunities will present much more desirable options for the Swiss coach.

Rudi Garcia will be leaving Lyon at the end of the season, but they are believed to be prefer Lille boss Christophe Galtier in the summer, while Leverkusen are indeed looking for a new head coach after recently sacking Peter Bosz.

Who will become Celtic manager?

FootballTransfers previously assessed some of the candidates believed to be involved in the mix.

More and more names are linked seemingly every week, with Henry the latest before Favre was mentioned this week.

The former Arsenal star refused to rule himself out of the running for the Celtic job, but did concede he still had much learning to do as a coach.

Last week, betting was suspended from some bookies on Keane taking over with Nicky Butt coming in as his assistant, but those rumours have died down in recent days.

Howe, too, was allegedly in Glasgow over the weekend for talks, though these negotiations remain unconfirmed.