Paul Lambert delivers Celtic reality check as he declares Seville would be 'too strong' for Ange Postecoglou's current stars

Paul Lambert won eight major trophies in as many years at Parkhead and the former Scotland midfielder has enjoyed watching the current Hoops side blow away their domestic rivals for the last two seasons under Ange Postecoglou.

However, he insists that the Aussie must start to make inroads in Europe before he and his side can be considered all-time greats. Charlie Nicholas claimed recently that Postecoglou’s men are more exciting than Brendan Rodgers’ Invincibles and Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes added that the current Hoops side is the best he’s ever faced. Lambert believes it’s too early to make those comparisons, although he feels that Postecoglou will eventually claim his place in the club’s Hall of Fame.

“It’s always hard to compare teams from different eras, although the Lisbon Lions will always be the greatest – the club was build on the foundations of their success,” he said. Ange has done a great job since he came in, when he inherited what could be described as a shambles, with players who no longer wanted to be at Parkhead and others who should never have been there.

“But he hasn’t won a treble - yet. Martin O’Neill also took over a side which had trailed behind Rangers [in 2000] and won a treble at the first attempt. Brendan won an invincible treble, which has never been done before and then became the first manager in history to win back-to-back trebles.

“He couldn’t make an impact on Europe, though – unlike Martin, who took us to the UEFA Cup final against Jose Mourinho’s Porto in 2003. We lost in extra time against the club which would win the Champions League the following year and that remains the biggest regret of my career.

“If pushed – and I admit I’m biased – I would say that Martin’s team would be