It has been revealed that Neil Lennon was keen to meet with Alan Thompson face-to-face to deliver him the news that he was being sacked.

The Celtic manager fired his assistant on the weekend over the phone but it was not for a lack of trying that the decision was made on a less personal level.

Celtic have released a statement saying that Lennon wanted to travel to Newcastle to see his good friend Thompson to tell him the bad news but the old Hoops coach demanded to know what the meeting was about giving Lennon no choice.

"We can also confirm that a meeting was set up between Alan Thompson and Neil Lennon on Sunday in Newcastle," read the statement.

"However, Alan refused to meet with Neil, hence the reason for the discussion being conducted by telephone.

"The matter is now in the hands of lawyers and, therefore, we are unable to go into further details."

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