Neil Lennon says it would be a fitting tribute to Celtic legend Billy McNeill if the club’s number five jersey was retired in his honour.
Manager Lennon was moved to tears by the European Cup-winning captain’s death aged 79 on Monday.
And he has urged his players to win the treble treble in McNeill’s honour by clinching the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup in the coming weeks.
“With this in the background, it makes it even more significant,” Lennon said.
“The players will be highly motivated on two fronts now. We’re a club in mourning. Billy McNeill was Celtic. He was an icon, a hero.
“My image of Billy will always be him stood on that podium in Lisbon, this Adonis in a green and white shirt holding the cup. I can’t put into words how big a loss he is for this club.”
Fans and players will commemorate McNeill’s life on Saturday when Celtic host Kilmarnock in the Premiership.
Lennon revealed he was mentored in his first stint as Celtic boss by the man he has followed as captain and manager and thinks retiring his shirt is “not a bad idea at all”.
“When I first got the job he was a tremendous support to me,” he added. “Not only during the good times, but more importantly during tough times.
“He would come in to see me after games and give me a lot of good advice on what I was doing right and wrong. I can’t thank him enough for that.”
‘Criticism is over the top’
Celtic are nine points clear with four league games left as they try to secure their eighth successive title, and will face Hearts in the Scottish Cup final on 25 May.
The Parkhead club have been held 0-0 by Livingston and Hibernian in their last two league matches, but Lennon believes his team have received unfair criticism.
“Our form is better than this time last year, but everyone seems to be making a big issue of it,” he said. “We’re unbeaten since January, we’ve conceded three goals, yet there’s this wave of criticism, which is over the top.”
Celtic and Scotland full-back Kieran Tierney missed the Hibs stalemate with a persistent pelvic problem and will see a specialist on Thursday to see if the injury requires surgery.
Lennon revealed Karamoko Dembele, who turned out for England Under-16s this week but is still eligible for Scotland, could make a Celtic first-team debut this season.
“I’m a big fan of his, I like his style, and would like to get him integrated in first-team squad sooner rather than later,” he said.
