Hibernian: Neil Lennon commits his future to Easter Road club with new deal until 2020

Neil Lennon hopes to have Hibs challenging for second place

Neil Lennon has signed a contract extension as Hibs head coach, with job satisfaction influencing his decision to commit to the club until 2020.

Hibs won the Championship title in his first season in charge and sit sixth on their return to the top flight.

"We all have romantic ideas and ideology about the game and where we want to go," said the 46-year-old.

"But the most important thing is if you are happy and you enjoy the players and enjoy the environment - and I do."

Lennon won five trophies in his four full seasons as Celtic manager and led the Glasgow side to the last 16 of the Champions League in 2011-12.

He joined Bolton Wanderers in October 2014, steering them away from the foot of the Championship and avoiding relegation but left the club in March of the next season as the drop to League One loomed.

Asked if he would like to manage again in England, the former Northern Ireland midfielder said: "My ambitions are here. That's why I've signed a contract.

"I'm not looking anywhere else and I haven't done since I walked in the door.

"It has been a good move for me professionally and personally and I owe the club a debt of gratitude and I want to repay them with success on the pitch and hopefully make them some money along the way.

"I'm not looking any further than what I've got here. I don't think you can.

"Sometimes, when you start doing that, you get distracted and you lose your way a bit."

Neil Lennon guided Hibs to the Championship title in his first season in charge

Lennon took Hibs to the semi-finals in their defence of the Scottish Cup last term and has a League Cup quarter-final with Livingston to look forward to this month.

"I see Hibs as a big club in Scotland, a big city club and obviously we want to re-establish that," he said when asked how far he could take the Edinburgh club.

"You set yourself up for a fall if you set targets publicly. We have our own team targets over the course of the season.

"Where you can take Hibs? I don't know.

"Ultimately, the cream rises to the top and everyone's on the tails of Celtic, but there's real competition for that second, third and fourth place and we want to be in there trying to achieve that."

Lennon signed nine players following promotion and expressed himself pleased with the squad he assembled before the closure of the summer transfer window.

"I am really enjoying the role and the challenges that lie ahead and the relationship I have with the people that work here, whether it be players or staff or members of the board," said Lennon.

"We are getting good crowds, which is important, the training ground is an excellent facility and we've been able to attract some quality players to the club."

Hibs chief executive Leeann Dempster said that the Scottish Premiership club's board shared Lennon's outlook for the team's immediate future.

"He is an ambitious guy, he wants to win silverware and he brings that mentality with him," Dempster told her club website.

"We look forward to working together to bring supporters more of the success they have enjoyed over the past two seasons."