At this time, the club announced that their squad had not been paid this month "due to a short-term funding issue" in a statement which came hours before their 1–1 draw with Brentford. In that game, Bolton striker Gary Madine was seen on television mouthing an insult towards Lennon, although the manager played down the incident afterwards, stating "I don't know what he said. He's a Geordie, I can't understand him! It was probably reciprocated!" Bolton continued to struggle and, with the club at the bottom of the table, Lennon left by "mutual consent" on 15 March 2016. Hibernian Lennon was appointed head coach of Scottish Championship club Hibernian in June 2016. He led the "Hibees" to the Scottish Championship title and promotion back to the Scottish Premiership (after a three-season absence) in his first season. In September 2017, Lennon and Hibs agreed to extend his contract to the end of the 2019–20 season. Hibs finished fourth in the 2017–18 Scottish Premiership and qualified for the Europa League. On 25 January 2019, Lennon was suspended by Hibernian following an exchange with other club employees. On 30 January, it was announced that he and assistant coach Garry Parker had left the club by mutual consent. A club statement said that "neither Neil nor Garry has been guilty of any misconduct or wrongdoing and no disciplinary process has been commenced. The suspension, put in place to allow an internal review, was lifted by the club as part of this agreement." Return to Celtic On 26 February 2019, Lennon was appointed manager of Celtic for a second time, taking over until the end of the campaign following Brendan Rodgers' mid-season departure for Leicester City. Having helped the club achieve an unprecedented third domestic treble ("treble treble"), Lennon was appointed permanent manager for a second time at the end of the season. The 2019–20 season saw very similar success, even following the suspension of professional football as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The season was later curtailed and the title awarded to Celtic, who were thirteen points clear at the time of suspension, equalling the national record of nine consecutive championships set by Celtic in the 1970s and matched by Rangers in the 1990s. In addition to the league, they were once again victorious in the League and Scottish cups, giving the club their fourth consecutive domestic treble. Following a positive start to