PAUL LAMBERT has distanced himself from the Celtic job and backed Neil Lennon to turn things around for the Scottish Champions. The Ipswich Town manager was tipped to replace his former Celtic teammate but Lambert has said that he had given Lennon a phone call to offer him his support during a difficult run of results.
Speaking to The Scottish Sun, Lambert says he got in touch with his old pal after the pressure on the Irishman increased as Celtic fell 13 points behind Rangers. The East Anglian Daily Times tipped him for a sensational return to the club but Lambert has poured cold water on that rumour.
“Listen, I spoke to Lenny the other day, he’s a good pal and I just phoned him to give him support because I saw the things that were going on with the Celtic fans, that’s not them, it’s not them.
“I had eight brilliant years there, the people at Celtic are really good and they’re having a little bit of a hard time with the league but last night was brilliant.
“Delighted for Lenny and delighted for everybody at the football club to win but that’s not my thing.
“As I say, I had eight brilliant years. One or two little hard ones that you normally get but pressure-wise everything that goes with that club is brilliant.
“But Lenny, he’s a good pal and I really hope he turns it around. Well, he’s not got to turn it around because that’s wrong because he’s done really well there and the result last night would have certainly helped him.”
Lambert cut his teeth in management in Scotland but has since been down south, with spells in the Premier League and lower leagues. However, Lambert was part of the Celtic side that stopped the ten in 1998, joining from Borussia Dortmund after they had won the Champions League.
Lennon’s win over Lille has bought him some more patience with the Celtic support and there is a belief on the showing versus the Ligue 1 side that Celtic will be able to turn around this season and build a run of form ahead of the game at Ibrox on January 2.
