NEIL LENNON won three league championships as manager of Celtic, as well as two Scottish Cup finals, reached the Champions League group stages twice and gave his supporters one of their greatest ever nights with the historic win over Barcelona.

He was Gordon Strachan’s captain and then right hand man. Few in the history of the club have won more trophies outside of the Jock Stein era. Lennon loves and knows Celtic and wanted to return two years after walking away.

And, yet, all of this was not good enough for him to be given a job he had previously enjoyed so much success in. It is an odd thing and something which has been perhaps overshadowed by the Brendan Rodgers appointment.

Read more: Neil Lennon - It's good Rangers are back but Celtic have done just fine without them

Neil Lennon not good enough for Celtic. It doesn’t seem right even taking into consideration the widely held view that the club have got the best manager they could have hoped for in Rodgers. So what did the man himself make of it all?

“I wasn't hurt, no. Disappointed, yes,” admitted Lennon who it has to be said seemed fairly relaxed about it. “What's for you can't go by you. I need to look at something else now and get a new challenge.

"It wasn't really an interview, it was more like meeting up again. We just chatted things through about the team and the club and what they would need to take it forward again.

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"After the Bolton experience it would have to be the right job. I've got plenty to offer. Celtic appealed to me, but they have picked a really good candidate in Brendan, he's a great manager, so we will see what happens in the future."

Lennon is a brilliant interviewee. As a player and manager he never ducked a question. Nothing has changed. He could have bluffed his way through his retort about why he wanted to go back; however, the Northern Irishman was upfront and open about his desires.

"It was hard to give it up the first time but I did it for personal reasons,” said Lennon. “It's quite intoxicating when you're involved with Celtic and I love the club anyway. I just felt it might have been a good time to get back in.

Read more: Neil Lennon - I want to return as Celtic manager

“It's just the intoxication of it all and the intensity. Most weekends you are winning so your weekends are pretty good whether you are a player or a manager. It's just the whole buzz around the club and it looks like there are good times on their way back - that's the reaction that Brendan's managerial appointment is bringing.

“I got down to the last however many candidates, so it was good to go through the interview process for experience as much as anything else. So we will see what comes up. I have an offer from abroad that I am considering, but I'm not in a big rush to take it up."

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Lennon knows Rodgers fairly well and would be open to having a chat if that is what his fellow countryman wants. But when 12,000 people turn up to welcome a new manager, the one thing Rodgers has is the backing of the supporters.

"It just shows you the interest is still there,” said Lennon who did feel the ‘thunder’ he brought back had been missing of late. “With Rangers coming back, the parity is restored and there's a real buzz and excitement about the place.

“He's a got a good pedigree and you can see what it means to the supporters. I know what the club would mean to Brendan because we come from similar backgrounds. He'll love it and I am sure he's looking forward to it.

Read more: Ex-Celtic manager Neil Lennon linked with Belgian club Anderlecht

“I know Brendan well. I actually went to watch him coach at Reading. I saw him again when we played them in the cup at Liverpool. He can phone me any time, but he knows that anyway. I texted him to congratulate him on the job and if he needs anything, which he probably won't because he is experienced enough anyway, then it's not a problem."

Lennon has been intrigued by the arrival of Joey Barton who is his kind of player and character. It would have bee interesting to watch the two go head-to-head in an Old Firm game.

“Joey is a good lad and he's got a great personality,” said the Celtic man of the new Rangers midfielder. “I'm surprised he left Burnley in the Premier League to go to Rangers but he obviously sees it as the next challenge in his career. He had a good season last year and big things will be expected of him at Rangers. He will enjoy that responsibility."

Lennon has been linked with Anderlecht “something I would be interested in” but that appears to be a non-starter. He is keen to get back into football and working abroad is something which appeals. As long as the job has no similarities to the mayhem of Bolton Wanderers.

"That was a different challenge and what I didn't envisage was the financial problems at the club after I had signed,” said Lennon. “We cut the wage bill by 50 per cent, they had a lot of players who were on big money, but they didn't have any money to back to me up because the owner stopped putting money into the club.

"You don't want to be out of the game for too long. I've got plenty of media work and I enjoy that side of it, but you do miss the intensity of working with a group of players day in and day out. I think I've got loads in me, I have plenty to offer and hopefully I can get the right job when it comes up."