I'm a Celtic legend – but I'd never manage them even if I was asked to do it

Celtic legend Paul Lambert has made the surprise admission that he "would never" manage the club.

Lambert, 54, made 273 appearances for the Hoops between 1997 and 2005, winning four Scottish league titles, two Scottish Cups and two Scottish League Cups along the way. But that legacy is the very reason he's not interested in returning to his former stomping ground in any coaching capacity.

The former Aston Villa and Norwich City chief hasn't held a senior coaching position since he left Ipswich Town in 2021. However, Lambert was emphatic when asked if he'd ever been approached to take over at Celtic Park, where former Premier League rival Brendan Rodgers has just reclaimed the Premiership crown."Do you know, I'd never do it, even if I was asked," he said during a recent appearance on Undr the Cosh. "[I] would never do it, because I had a brilliant time there as a footballer. And I would never want to tarnish that.

"And I just think I don't need that in my life, where I go back there and you know, ultimately, what's gonna happen. Everybody's different, but I don't need that in my life... I don't want to tarnish that."

Glasgow-born Lambert joined Celtic six months after lifting the Champions League with Borussia Dortmund in 1997. His impact at the club was immediate, lifting domestic double in his first season and breaking Rangers' run of nine consecutive league titles.

The blue half of the city was dominant at the time, but Lambert became a key part of the team that helped make Celtic competitive once more. He'll always hold a special place in Dortmund's history, too, for the role he played in containing Juventus talisman Zinedine Zidane en route to the club's sole Champions League triumph – although that could be doubled