David Potter’s Celtic Player of the Day, No.31 – Paul Lambert

Paul Lambert was a superb player. He was mainly a midfielder but he take a good few goals as well, and he was a vital cog in Martin O’Neill’s great side. He was not a Celt by birth, but when did that ever stop anyone being a great player for the club?

Paul Lambert
IMAGO/Sven Simon. Paul Lambert (vorn) und Stefan Reuter (beide BVB) laufen mit dem Pokal eine Ehrenrunde nach dem Champions League Sieg 1996/1997

He was already established when he came to Celtic in November 1997. Indeed he had already won a European Cup medal for Borussia Dortmund, and was well known to Scottish fans because he had played for St Mirren, with whom he won the Scottish Cup in 1987 along with Frank McGarvey, and Motherwell, as well as Scotland.

He fitted in seamlessly to Wim Jansen’s team which stopped the 10. The next two years were unhappy ones both for Paul and Celtic with Paul suffering a major life threatening injury at Ibrox (for which, incredibly, the Rangers manager wanted him red carded, even as he was being carried off!) and the team back in the doldrums.

Paul Lambert
Bildnummer: 01071785 Datum: 21.05.2003 Copyright: imago/Miguelez Sports Foto

But it all changed for the better in 2000 when Martin O’Neill joined the club, and Paul led the team with panache and distinction winning domestic medals galore and being very unlucky not to triumph in Seville. He played 40 times for Scotland, and managed a variety of clubs in England.

David Potter

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About Author

David was a distinguished Celtic author and historian and writer for The Celtic Star. He lived in Kirkcaldy and followed Celtic all my life, having seen them first at Dundee in March 1958. He was a retired teacher and his other interests were cricket, drama and the poetry of Robert Burns. David Potter passed away on 29 July 2023 after a short illness. He was posthumously awarded a Special Recognition award by Celtic FC at the club's Player of the Year awards in May 2024. David's widow Rosemary accepted the award to huge applause from the Celtic Supporters in the Hydro.

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