THERE have been myriad reasons for Celtic’s unprecedented spell of domestic dominance in the past 10 years; the difficulties their city rivals Rangers have gone through, the impact made by so many of their signings and an ability to develop their own outstanding talent have all played a part.

Yet, Neil Lennon believes the contribution of the Parkhead board, who have presided over nine successive Scottish title wins and three consecutive trebles since 2011, shouldn’t be overlooked either.

The calls for Lennon to be sacked grew after the Glasgow club were knocked out of the Betfred Cup at home by Ross County last month and became deafening when they drew with St Johnstone in the Premiership on Sunday to fall 13 points behind their city rivals.

However, major shareholder Dermot Desmond, chief executive Peter Lawwell and their fellow directors stood firm, refused to bow to mounting pressure from their disgruntled fanbase and issued public declarations of support for their manager instead.

Lennon has been grateful for the backing. He knows that in the modern game the longevity of those in his profession is getting shorter with every passing season. He appreciates that few major clubs would have retained his services after such a dire run of form.

But the Northern Irishman feels the hierarchy’s stubborn singlemindedness is one of the reasons Celtic are bidding to become the first side to complete 10-In-A-Row in the 2020/21 season – and insisted that it could still ensure they make history come next May.

“Managers don’t get long now,” he said at Lennoxtown yesterday as he looked ahead to the Europa League match with Lille this evening. “It’s a modern day phenomenon. Reactions now are so instantaneous.

“But this board don’t behave in that manner. There’s a durability about them, and I think that’s why the club has been so successful during their tenure. We’ve had unparalleled success here and they believe continuity is important. It breeds success.

“That’s what we want. The league is not over by any means. It’s going to take determination to turn the season around quickly and get back to the standards they know they are capable.

“There has to be some perspective. I’m the first one to say the results have not been good enough lately for the squad we have here and the standard and expectations we set for ourselves.

“But we can turn it around. I don’t think we need to make radical changes to the squad or the training. We know it’s been successful before and they’ll be successful again.”

Lennon added: “It (the St Johnstone draw) is out of the way and they have a massive month coming up with a lot of games. We’ve got a cup final in 10 days, so it (the vote of confidence) is very welcome from that point of view as well.

“We can just hopefully find that piece of magic, or luck, or whatever, and produce the consistent performances that we’ve been missing these last few weeks.

“Confidence works both ways. It can come back, 100 per cent. There’s no shortage of winners in the dressing room, no shortage of competitors. They are frustrated as well. I know they were angry, annoyed, disappointed on Monday. They’ve had a couple of days to digest it and they are ready to go again.”

David Turnbull, the Scotland Under-21 midfielder who joined Celtic in a record £3.25m transfer from Motherwell back in August, is certainly eager to get involved and has every chance of playing against Lille.

The 21-year-old, who had been sidelined after testing positive for coronavirus, made his comeback against St Johnstone on Sunday when he replaced Tom Rogic in the second-half and performed well.

Lennon has used Turnbull sparingly this term. But he will be missing Ryan Christie, who is suspended, tonight and has doubts over Nir Bitton, Hatem Elhamed and Callum McGregor. He envisages the former SFWA Young Player of the Year being used more often in the second half of the season.

“He’s absolutely part of the plans,” he said. “I was impressed with him when he came on at the weekend. He’s had nearly a month away from us with the international squad and then the Covid. He had to go through all those protocols, but he’s fit and healthy now. I think he’ll play a part between now and the end of the year.

“David has had absolutely no luck at all. He’s a great kid, a really talented kid, and he’s due a break. His attitude has been excellent. He is really low maintenance, he comes in with a smile on his face every day. David is enjoying the environment and the challenges ahead of him.

“He will make an impact between now and the end of the year and I’m absolutely sure he’ll make serious inroads over the next year to 18 months.

“The likes of (Patryk) Klimala, Turnbull and (Ismaila) Soro will come in to my thinking. We’ll make some changes and give some players game time and others some well earned rest.”

Soro, the industrious central midfielder who joined Celtic from Bnei Yehuda in Israel back in January, is another individual who Lennon anticipates coming to the fore in the months ahead.

“It’s been tough for him after what’s happened not long after he arrived,” he said. “He was back in the Ivory Coast for a family matter and then had to quarantine, so it’s not been ideal for him.

“He’s been back training for a few weeks and has looked good. There’s obviously a lot of competition for him in there, with the likes of (Scott) Brown and McGregor, Rogic and Christie, real stalwarts of the team, and now obviously Turnbull.

“We’d had to be patient with him but will give him a start tomorrow. We won’t judge him on one game, obviously, but it’s an opportunity for him to get 90 minutes in to his legs. He could play a bigger role in the remainder of the season.”

Elsewhere, Lennon stressed that he was unaware Elhamed, who was yesterday linked with a return to his native Israel in January, wanted to leave.