NEIL Lennon must feel like he is running the last leg of a relay having taken the baton with a 10-second lead. Cross the line first and he is unlikely to be showered with praise for the achievement. After all, someone else has done most of the hard work. Drop the baton, however, and the failure will be all on him. In that context Lennon finds himself in a near impossible situation.

Common consensus is that, should he lead Celtic to another treble, the manager’s job ought to be his. You can understand that argument. Look a bit deeper, however, and it effectively means his suitability to be manager of the biggest club in the country for the next few years is going to be judged on how his players perform in one or two matches. Put like that, it would represent a totally flawed recruitment process for a key position in a multi-million pound commercial operation.

Celtic take on Aberdeen this afternoon at Hampden in what ought to be a thorough test of their credentials. Should Derek McInnes’ side triumph to reach the Scottish Cup final – and on recent form there’s a decent chance – then Celtic’s dream of a triple treble would be over.

That could be Lennon’s fault. Perhaps his tactics are ineffective or the players don’t appear motivated or capable of following his instruction. Maybe the substitutions don’t work out as intended. Similarly, however, Aberdeen may just play better. Or a Celtic player could make an individual error that costs his side the game. Should Lennon lose his shot at the job because of that? It would seem extremely punitive if so.

Lennon, for the second time in his managerial career, has been handed the Celtic reins midway through a season and asked to see it through until the summer. Whereas his previous remit was to restore an element of stability following the debacle that was Tony Mowbray’s brief tenure, this time he has taken over from a manager who could do no wrong until his departure.

That can create an almost paralysing situation for a caretaker coach who must resist the inherent urge to do things his own way for fear of disrupting the steady progress made under his predecessor. Lennon has admitted as much as he tries to guide Celtic through to another treble without tinkering too much with Brendan Rodgers’ methods.

It has created a somewhat artificial scenario where a manager has to deliver success on the field in a short timeframe without really being able to put his individual stamp on proceedings. Lennon and Celtic are no strangers to each other but this must feel alien to both.

Despite that, it is his overall body of work that Peter Lawwell, Dermot Desmond et al must lean on when the time comes to assess whether Lennon deserves to be given another crack at the position on a permanent basis. If the Northern Irishman is effectively in the midst of a three-month audition for the job then it seems only fair to weigh up that entire period when analysing his suitability to continue.

Any manager can lose a cup tie – well, apart from Rodgers of course – but over a longer timeframe a more detailed assessment can be drawn up: how has the team performed on a consistent basis? How does morale seem within the dressing room? Are the players responding effectively to the manager’s instruction? Does he seem a good fit for such a pivotal role? All of these things can be better measured over a longer spell. Defeat at Hampden will be costly to Celtic in so many ways but, barring an utter disaster, it shouldn’t end Lennon’s chances of becoming their next manager.

In a similar vein, however, winning the treble shouldn’t mean he automatically gets the job. That would be negligent on Celtic’s part, too. Many would consider it heartless not to retain a manager who wins a treble – the kind of thing you only really tend to see at Barcelona or Real Madrid – but the club can’t allow sentiment to cloud their judgment on an issue of this importance.

Given the League Cup was already back in the trophy cabinet by the time Lennon returned and the Premiership title all but secured, his job has been to effectively win three Scottish Cup ties. Without diminishing that achievement, that alone shouldn’t be enough to guarantee him the job.

The Celtic board have to, at the very least, explore other options and it is fair to assume they are doing so given the eclectic list of international names that has been linked to the pending vacancy over the past week, with representatives rushing to rule their clients out before they have even been ruled in.

A return to the Champions League group stage ought to be the primary target for whoever gets the nod next season, while Celtic will also need a manager of steady temperament to handle the pressure as the heat rises in Glasgow as Celtic aim for first nine and then, potentially, 10 in a row.

Lennon may well be the best man on both fronts. He has been over this course before and enjoyed plenty of success in that time. Celtic may give him another go at it. But, good or bad, this afternoon’s outcome at Hampden shouldn’t be the overriding factor in that decision.