Neil Lennon is a shock choice to take charge of struggling Israeli club Hapoel Tel Aviv.

The former Celtic and Hibs boss has been out of work since last October when he was axed by Cypriot club Omonia, despite leading them to a Cup success and a Europa League group stages campaign where they narrowly lost twice to Manchester United.

And he's been targeted to take charge of Hapoel Tel Aviv, who are in the relegation zone in the Israeli top flight after their league split.

Hapoel have former Celtic Head of Operations Nick Hammond as their sports director and he's told his board that Lennon would be an ideal candidate.

Lennon himself even revealed in an interview last year that he would like to manage in Israel one day.

He said: "I would definitely consider coaching an Israeli team. Israeli clubs have had success in Europe and it's somewhere that appeals to me."

Hapoel are currently managed by Haim Silvas, but he is set to leave the club at the end of the season with Hapeol having just four league games left.

They haven't won a league title for 13 years and the Bloomfield Stadium outfit are desperate for success again and see 51-year-old Lennon as the man to deliver it after winning ten trophies with Celtic as a manager and a Championship success with Hibs too.

Meanwhile, Matt O’Riley has admitted he finds Celtic team-mate Kyogo Furuhashi’s positive attitude “incredible” after a penalty miss failed to wipe the smile off the Japanese forward’s face.

Furuhashi opened the scoring in Celtic’s 4-1 win at Kilmarnock on Sunday but later hit the post with a spot-kick to keep him on 29 goals for the season.

O’Riley, who scored two goals at Rugby Park, said: “He’s probably the nicest man I’ve ever met. It’s not just on the pitch with what you see, he’s genuinely the nicest man I’ve ever met.

“That guy could miss four open goals in a game and still be smiling, which I find incredible.

“It shows the kind of guy he is, and it’s really nice to have someone like that in your team – regardless of whether they miss or score, they’re still going to work hard.

“He knows he’s already got, I don’t know how many goals, so I don’t think he’s too fussed about missing one.”