Neil Lennon has paid the price for successive defeats to Manchester United after being sacked by Omonia Nicosia.
The former Celtic boss brought his Omonia side to Old Trafford last week, where they put up a valiant fight before conceding a stoppage-time Scott McTominay strike. They also impressed in the first meeting back in Cyprus, where they took the lead against Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. before ultimately falling to a 3-2 defeat.
However, those performances in the Europa League were in contrast to their league form, where they have won just three of their first seven matches. His final game in charge was a 1-0 defeat to Nea Salamis, with his fate confirmed just an hour after the full-time whistle.
Lennon was only appointed back in March, guiding the club to the Cyrpiot Cup for the first time in almost a decade. But in a statement which referenced “the ongoing competitive instability” it was confirmed the Northern Irishman was being relieved of his duties.
“We inform you that we have agreed with Mr. Neil Lennon to stop our collaboration,” a statement read. “Mr. Lennon took over the technical leadership of our team last March, at a difficult time and managed to lead us to winning the cup and then to the historic qualification against KAA Gent and our entry into the UEFA Europa League groups, where we came close to historic results against Real Sociedad and Manchester United.
“Unfortunately, the ongoing competitive instability and the significant losses of points in the championship, are the main reasons that made us decide to end our partnership.
“Mr. Lennon has written his name in the history of Omonia and deserves the respect and recognition of all of us. Our paths separate, but the memories of our collaboration will unite us forever.
“We sincerely thank Mr. Lennon for his contribution and wish him every success in his future career.” It could have been very different had Omonia held on in Manchester last week, with Lennon bemoaning the missed chance to record a memorable result.
"It probably would have been the greatest result in the club's history,” he said after the game. “We defended heroically. I was really frustrated, the second half we didn't keep the ball in the final third at all. And it was just wave after wave of attack and you just have to accept that.
"The players were very strong, towards the middle of the goal, my goalkeeper was incredible, which you need, against a team as good as this. I mean, a few of them will come out with a lot of glory and few will have regrets about how the game went. I am really proud of them but at this level you need to keep the ball better."
