CELTIC now find themselves shopping for managers on the rail marked “slightly flawed”. No longer able to attract or afford those considered to be at the peak of their profession, their list of targets has been downsized to encompass those available candidates either enduring a lean spell after previous successes or those offering potential but perhaps inexperienced at this level.

Into the former category fall the likes of David Moyes, Malky Mackay, Brendan Rodgers, and Roy Keane. All have enjoyed and celebrated triumphs with clubs down south, only for the capricious beast that is football to dump them back on their backsides once the acclaim has died down. All are available for hire again but can afford to be choosy. Celtic can offer prestige, acclaim, trophies and a route into the Champions League, but not the finances on offer in the Premier League in England and at many Championship clubs, too. Being able to persuade any manager to value the former ahead of the latter is not always the easiest sell.

Entering the fray now is Paul Lambert. Like the afore-mentioned quartet his star is on the wane. That may work in Celtic’s favour. After a false start with Livingston, Lambert’s time in England was initially a tale of one success story after another. It was a sudden and steep upwards trajectory. He delivered a League Cup semi-final and a play-off place to Wycombe Wanderers. He moved up a division to Colchester City, lasting a season before being poached by Norwich City. There it really took off. Back-to-back promotions, a place in the club’s Hall of Fame and then a season of survival in the Premier League. It was nosebleed stuff. Celtic, had they wanted to, would have had no chance of enticing their former midfielder back at that point.

Instead it was Aston Villa, to replace Alex McLeish, where Lambert next pitched up in the summer of 2012. And there the parabola reached its peak and started to turn back down again. After ongoing difficulties in his first two seasons, he lasted halfway through his third year before being sacked with Villa in the relegation zone. It was the first setback since leaving Livingston nine years previously.

All managers run into difficulties eventually and Lambert was always going to do likewise. Nine months out of work offered a period for reflection as he carefully weighed up his next move. Blackburn Rovers, like Lambert looking to return to former highs, seemed a post with potential as he penned a two-and-a-half year deal last November but difficulties lurked behind the scenes. With owners Venkys last month reporting debts of more than £100m - and Rovers 18th in the table and without a chairman, chief executive or managing director – Lambert decided enough was enough and invoked a release clause in his contract.

Most bookmakers immediately suspected something was afoot and installed Lambert as the new favourite for the vacancy at Celtic. And there are many weapons in his armoury that would certainly go in his favour were he to emerge as a serious candidate. His form in the lower leagues of England showed his strength in managing at clubs with budget restrictions as will be the case again at Celtic. His success at various different clubs also demonstrated his versatility, that it was not just a case of getting lucky with the right team at the right time. From his time as a player, he knows Celtic well and the demands that would be placed upon him, especially with Rangers back in the top division for the first time in four years. He has not been burdened with an ego and will likely not make the same demands – in terms of budget and transfer policy – that the likes of Keane or Rodgers may request. Most importantly, he is free, available and looking to get his managerial career back on track.

Successive failures at Villa and Blackburn will go against him, although there is a case that he simply made a poor choice going to Rovers where circumstances conspired against him. Detractors will also say he is not a big enough name, that he won’t drive punters back to Celtic Park. These are often statements made by supporters who believe Pep Guardiola would have agreed to come to Glasgow had Celtic asked him first. It is a denial of where the club is now, operating in a shrunken financial market with diminished global appeal. Every candidate comes with a flaw but even blemished characters can thrive once again.