Neil Lennon has expressed his joy at returning to his spiritual home to take a place on the coaching staff here at Celtic Park. In a role he describes as "the Darkside" Neil will be working alongside Tommy Burns and Gary Pendrey, presumably to assist in turning our midfield privates into midfield generals!
Lennon assisted in training at Lennoxtown this morning and insists he is happy with the appointment, which has been met with some cyncism by the support. Many feel that although they are happy to have Lenny back that the timing might have more to do with reasons other than training, I.e. to ingratiate Strachan into the support.
I will discuss these issues at a later date, for now I am just going to concentrate on the possessives of having a natural born leader and winner in our backroom staff.
Speaking this morning Lennon said, "I'm going to the dark side as I call it," laughed the Irishman. "When I was a player, the coaching side of the game was the dark side. I've joined that now and my mode of thinking will have to change.
"I can't just go out and bully people all the time like I did as a player. That's an instinctive reaction and I think I'll now have to be a bit more tolerant and patient with the players.
"The manager said to me this morning that I'll just learn as I go along. You have all these pre-conceived ideas about team-talks and coaching sessions, but when you get into it, it will be totally different.
"I'm not looking too far ahead. I just want to come in and help the team and manager between now and the end of the season.
"Every game is must-win now and that's the challenge. It will be difficult, but it's a great challenge for the players. To be champions, they will have to go somewhere not many teams have been before.
"You are relying on other teams maybe doing you a favour along the way, but that can happen. I've seen it happen…it's happened to me.
"The boys just need to take the bull by the horns and play good, hard professional football now from here on in, and hope they get the breaks along the way.
"It can happen and you hope that will be the case. Rangers are having a great season, but they are playing a lot of games and there is bound to be fatigue. We just have to capitalise on any slip-ups."
The past few days have been a bit of a blur for Lennon. On Wednesday, while still a Wycombe Wanderers player, he was approached to come back and just 48 hours later, he was taking the Celtic training.
"The manager rang me and asked me to come," he said. "When an opportunity comes around like that you can't wait. You just have to grasp it with both hands.
"Gordon rang on Wednesday night and the hardest thing was asking Paul Lambert if I could go. I was enjoying my time at Wycombe and he was good to me. Paul's a good friend as well, but he was great and I'm grateful to Wycombe for letting me leave.
"I never expected the call. I planned on doing my 'A' license coaching badge in the summer and I was going to take it from there.
"I've been invited back and I'm flattered that Gordon thinks I can make a contribution at this stage of the season. I'm working with top players and top coaches, and that's brilliant.
"I'll bring an extra voice and extra opinion and I have recent experience, which might be invaluable to the new players. There might be some motivation here and there, and some advice.
"But the manager is the manager. He'll ask my opinion on things and I've always been opinionated anyway.
"He might think it's a good idea, and he might think it's a rubbish idea. I'll help him and the players as much as I can, in every way that I'm asked to."
With his playing career now officially over, Lennon will now concentrate on coaching and cajoling the players in the Celtic squad. Yet, for such a natural competitor, it won't be easy to stand on the sidelines while a title race is going on.
"It will be frustrating," he smiled. "I sit at home watching games on television and it's hard - I have a couple of cats who are black and blue at the moment.
"That's me now hung the boots up, but it's good that I can now walk into a coaching environment.
"If it had happened during the summer, I'd maybe have had a few weeks to dwell on finishing my playing career. This way, I won't have that."
Welcome back Neil!
Yours in Celtic
Clydebuilt