AS hypothetical suggestions go, it’s not the worst: Paul Kane, the Hibernian legend, believes the club could struggle to hold on to Neil Lennon if interest in Brendan Rodgers from the English Premiership materialises into something concrete.

The Celtic manager addressed speculation linking him with the Arsenal job last week as rumours over Arsene Wenger’s future at the London club continue to grow and gave an indication that he might not be in Glasgow for the long haul.

Kane says he believes Lennon, who still has a strong relationship with Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell, is happy at Easter Road but accepts that if his old club came calling he might find it hard to resist the lure of a second spell as manager at Parkhead.

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"I think Brendan is letting Arsenal know that he is available in the proper kind of way,” said Kane. “I think Neil would be one of the names [on the list to succeed him] but that situation will only happen if Brendan goes. I think there is a strong bond there between [Lennon] and the [Hibs] supporters, Neil and Leeann Dempster.

“Listen, if he does really, really well for Hibs and there is a situation that comes along that was a no-brainer, that he sees as a dream come true,

I don’t think anyone would stand in his way.”

That said Kane, a lifelong Hibs fan, does not believe it would be a foregone conclusion that Lennon would leave Easter Road. The 52-year-old has been hugely impressed by the manner in which the Northern Irishman has bought into the club’s vision. Doubly so by the way he has shed the boy-band image Hibs had acquired as they struggled to escape the Championship in consecutive seasons before completing the task under his watch last May. This term they are on course for at least a top-four finish and Kane believes that is largely down to Lennon’s influence on the players.

“He’s got the mental toughness imprinted on the Hibs team,” said Kane, a goalscoring midfielder who played more than 250 games for the club between 1982 and 1990. “He’s got a winning mentality and that saying about the boy band is no longer there. He has got the mentality that he brought from Leicester to Celtic. He’s brought that to Easter Road. He said looking from the outside in, that he felt Hibs were soft and he has definitely got rid of that.

“I really think he has been good for Hibs and vice versa. He maybe didn’t realise the potential of the club and the way the fans support the club. Celtic have always been renowned for having a great support and when you come away from that you maybe don’t think it exists anywhere else but I think he now respects the fact he has been good for them and they for him.

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“The supporters want him to build because he has taken them from the Championship and it looks as if he is going to secure top six which is progress but Hibs should always be in the top four, contesting Europe and things like that. The supporters are ready and the club is ready to finish in the top four regularly like Aberdeen for the last two or three seasons. Hibs fans want that and they want it to be done by Neil Lennon. They’ve had enough of managers coming and going over the past nine years or so. I think the foundations are there, I think it just has to click in.”

Tonight at Easter Road, Kane expects Hibs to take a step closer to that top-four goal by restoring some pride after their January exit in the Scottish Cup at Tynecastle. He rubbishes Hearts manager Craig Levein’s suggestion that some kind of natural order was restored in the aftermath of that 1-0 victory. Those claims infuriated Lennon and it was not the first time the two men have been at loggerheads this season but the Hibs manager did find an unlikely ally in Levein when he was sent to the stand for confronting referee Kevin Clancy over a penalty decision in the recent 2-2 draw at Kilmarnock.

“I just think it was a bit disrespectful when you have a look back at it,” said Kane. “Hibs had gone nine games in a row by their own doing and Hearts win one of 10 games, well that’s not order restored. I’m not sure why he backed him over the Kilmarnock thing. Why would you do that, Craig? You’ve already said ‘order restored’ are you saying you were wrong the last time?

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“One thing about Neil Lennon is that he will be going all out to win it. If you look at Craig when he went to Ibrox and Parkhead the last couple of weeks, has he set out to really win the game? It will be won in the midfield but it will also be about what kind of system Craig Levein uses. Does he set up like he did at Celtic and Rangers and sit in or does he go gung ho?

“The last couple of games haven’t been great so if it’s going out on TV to the rest of the world I want it to be a good game. I want it to be a good advertisement for Scottish football. Confidence is what wins these games and the nine games in a row without defeat will still have given Hibs the confidence to win it even if they did lose the Scottish Cup game.”

The dispute between the two managers has solidified one thought in Kane’s mind and that is that the Edinburgh derby has more frisson than it’s ever had as a result.

“I would say there is more animosity now between Hibs and Hearts than there was before. I saw something the other day that said ‘order has been restored by Hibs ladies’ because they beat Hearts.”