Scott Brown says Celtic must keep hold of Neil Lennon and Gary Hooper next season

Scott Brown has revealed that Celtic must keep a hold of manager Neil Lennon and top scorer Gary Hooper to have a shot at repeating this years successful season.

Celtic wrapped up the double on Sunday when Hooper helped to secure a 3-0 victory over Hibernian in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park.

Hooper was the subject of several bids from Norwich City in the January transfer window, while Bhoys boss Lennon has recently been linked with the Everton vacancy.

Brown wants Celtic to improve upon this season’s achievements, which also saw the club reach the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League, but conceded it is vital that Lennon and Hooper stay at Parkhead.

“The main thing is that we keep the gaffer and Hoops,” Brown told the Daily Record. “Those are the priorities.”

“Hoops showed against Hibs just how good a striker he is. He’s a great guy and good to have around the changing room. What he does in the box is phenomenal.

“It’s huge for the gaffer to have won the Double as a player and a manager. He is the reason why everyone comes to the club.

“He has brought in young players and shown what he can do with a tight budget. He signed Victor Wanyama, Efe Ambrose and Kris Commons without spending a lot of money and they have played every week.

“Somebody eventually is going to take a chance on the manager. It is up to the club to try to keep him now. All of the players want him to stay next season because it is going to be a huge year.

“We have done really well but now we want to kick on. We have three qualifies for the Champions League and want to do well there again.”