JJ impressed by Lennon impact

eil Lennon has made it almost impossible for Celtic not to appoint him their next manager, according to Hearts boss Jim Jefferies. Jefferies will attempt to become the first Scottish Premier League coach to beat Lennon when the two sides meet on the final day of the season at Tynecastle on Sunday.Celtic's interim boss has won all seven of his SPL games since Tony Mowbray was sacked at the end of March, with the one black mark against him - admittedly one of massive significance - being a shock Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Ross County.But the vastly-experienced Jefferies has been hugely impressed with managerial rookie Lennon, saying: "He's done fantastically well."Alright, they had that disaster against Ross County but he's won all his other matches."He's got the players playing for him."They'll be wanting to finish on a high, maybe to try to get Neil the job."He's virtually sealed getting the job; it would be difficult to give it to anybody else."Jefferies has long seen managerial potential in Lennon, who he watched bark out orders on the playing field while the 38-year-old was captain at Parkhead.He added: "I've met him a couple of times on holiday."We were in Portugal a couple of years ago and he's a great lad - very down to earth, and you can see he's a winner."He brings that to the squad."He's got great enthusiasm and there have definitely been players responding to him."The same could be said for Jefferies, whose January return to Tynecastle sparked a revival which almost saw them snatch a Europa League spot.But Wednesday night's goalless game with Dundee United coupled with Hibernian's crazy 6-6 draw at Motherwell has ended those hopes barring a massive goal difference swing."It's mathematically possible," joked Jefferies, whose side are three points and 11 goals worse off than Hibs."After seeing the result the other night anything's possible, I suppose."But it looks a tall order."Whatever the outcome on Sunday, Jefferies will turn his attention to building a squad for next season, with the likes of captain Michael Stewart, Jose Goncalves and Laryea Kingston all set to leave when their contracts expire."It's going to be a busy summer," said the Hearts boss, who has also warned it would take a "huge" offer to prise Lee Wallace from Tynecastle."Even when I get my holidays, the phone will be on all the time."We've got some decisions to make."Jefferies rubbished reports he had made a move for Aberdeen captain Mark Kerr, though he revealed he had approached one unnamed player back in January and hopes to sign him this summer.Denying that man was Kevin Kyle, he added: "There's a lot of things we'd like to do.""Sometimes you cannot always get to do them."We'll work hard in the summer to get the squad right for when we report back."Winger David Templeton has welcomed the extra competition new faces would bring.The 21-year-old is still revelling in last weekend's Edinburgh derby victory, which saw him set up a last-gasp winner for David Obua.But he admits his first man-of-the-match award in a Hearts jersey took him by surprise, even though he felt his performance was his best for the club."I didn't think I'd played that well," he added."I thought Lee Wallace was brilliant that day."But when everybody said it to me and I watched it again, I thought I did have quite a good game."

Source: Team_Talk