Celtic face one of their 'biggest summers', says Alan Stubbs

Celtic will need to sign up to 15 players in "one of the biggest summers" they have ever had, says Alan Stubbs.

Neil Lennon resigned on Wednesday with the club 18 points behind Rangers and their hopes of winning a historic 10th consecutive title all but over.

Stubbs won five trophies with Celtic, including two league titles.

"This is a huge, huge job, not just the appointment of a manager but re-shaping a squad to challenge next year," the former defender told BBC Scotland.

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"This could be one of the biggest summers Celtic have ever had. You're talking about somewhere between eight and 15 players having to be brought in.

"That brings huge responsibility on to the owners and [incoming chief executive] Dominic McKay. If he thought the job was big beforehand, then it just got bigger in the last few hours."

Former Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner agrees that there are big recruitment decisions ahead but believes there are still some "exceptional" players in the current squad.

"The goalkeeper needs to be addressed; the defence; Scott Brown's position; and the strikers, because Odsonne Edouard will probably leave," said Bonner. "It's a big, big job.

"They have exceptional players - Callum McGregor, Ryan Christie, Ismaila Soro - but right down the middle they have to do something."

'Salzburg's Marsch is the type Celtic need'

Former Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe and Scotland head coach Steve Clarke are among the candidates to have been touted for the job in the immediate aftermath of Lennon leaving.

However, both Bonner and former Scotland forward James McFadden suggests that RB Salsburg's American head coach Jesse Marsch has the type of profile that Celtic should be looking for.

"He thinks outside the box," said Bonner. "Players think differently now and they're looking for something different. He's only one of that ilk of modern type of managers.

"That's where I think the club needs to go to."

McFadden added: "He is about finding out about the club, the fans, learning the culture of the environment that he's in. He learns what's required."

Former Scotland forward Steven Thompson believes the likes of Howe and Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez may be beyond Celtic's reach.

"Martinez can virtually pick his next club and I would amazed if it wasn't one of the biggest," he said. "I don't think he would consider the Celtic job.

"I worked with Eddie Howe for a year at Burnley, he was very young at the time, 33. He was an extremely impressive operator then. He's somebody that's very highly thought of down south.

"Again, I think he's somebody who would be in a strong position for other Premier League jobs. It's whether or not he would want to come up to Glasgow."

'If they don't want to stay, they need to go' - analysis

Former Scotland forward James McFadden on Sportsound

The first port of call is to see who wants to be part of it. If every one of them says they don't want to be there, then they need to go. They've got three strikers behind Edouard who don't play. Are they going to move on?

You can't expect to sign 14, 15 players and get it right straight away. You can't have two years to rebuild, they need to be competitive from the first day of next season.