THE message was simple and straightforward.

Neil Lennon looks back on 2012 with pride, but only briefly. He is consumed by 2013 and beyond. A year that gave him his first championship, a sensational victory over Barcelona and qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League is savoured before the manager immediately says: "You reflect on it for a few days and then you go on."

This philosophy was marked yesterday by Lennon twice insisting that he did not want to be a "one-season wonder" and setting a points tally for his players in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League that will be unfulfilled if the side drops more than five points by the end of the season.

The Northern Irishman also looked forward to a League Managers' Association (LMA) meeting next month with Sir Alex Ferguson and others at the FA's centre of excellence at St George's in Staffordshire. January will also include a few days in Spain with the team in the mid-season break before Lennon heads to England to watch transfer targets. And then the Champions League resumes in February.

He is aware of the stress. "I keep myself healthy even if it does not look like it," he said. "I train two or three times a week – not heavily, but I keep myself ticking over."

But he admitted "private time" was almost non-existent. He added of next month: "I'm hoping to get a week away with the family but, even then, I might have to go and watch games while I'm away, so it is virtually 12 months in the year. Even when you're on holiday, the chief executive rings every day – 'What about this player? What about that player? Can we get this contract signed?"'

He will seek advice from Ferguson and others on how to manage time more effectively.

He is keen to emphasise, however, that the Celtic job is not a burden. "I love it," he said succinctly, though he added with a smile: "There's pressure on me to win the title, trophies and the European Cup . . ."

The drive, though, comes from within. "I've got to be very mindful that we're not a one-season wonder. Everything is great at the minute and we're getting a lot of pats on the back," he said of the invitation to the LMA conference.

Then, in answer to another question about the Celtic model of recruitment being looked at favourably in England, he said: "I don't want to be a one-season wonder. I'd like it to be a consistent run in the Champions League and that's going to be very difficult."

He is constitutionally unable to accept the possibility of an era of Celtic dominance in the wake of the travails of Rangers. "Everyone says we are going to win six or seven in a row. That does not really float my boat. Each season has its own challenges and its own merits. I just think about making a steady progression and turning this team, and club, into the way it was under Martin O'Neill and Gordon Strachan," he said. "That takes time and patience and development. Not just from the players, but from myself. Every season is another challenge. Every competition is another challenge. Everyone has us winning the treble but it has only been done three times in the history of the club."

The players have been told of the expectations for the domestic season. "We have 40 points at the moment after 19 games. If you use that as a guide to the second half of the season, you will end up with 80. And for me, that's nowhere near good enough," said Lennon. "Our previous two totals have been 92 and 93. So with 19 games left, that is 57 points to play for. If they won every game that would take it to 97, so the motivation is not to drop five points and try to end up on the same total as the last two seasons.

"That is what I am looking at. The reason we have dropped points in the first half, is that we were very inconsistent at time because of the Champions League. They do not have that to worry about. They can kick on."

There is a moment to look back on what has been achieved. "Pride – a huge amount of pride," said Lennon of his dominant feeling about 2012. "You don't have time to reflect in this job. You sit on it for a day or two and then you go again. It's one of those years where you don't want it to end, really, and it'll be quite poignant when it does end, in terms of what we've achieved, winning the championship and then obviously the titanic games in the Champions League."

However, he added: "I've really, really enjoyed it but you always worry about what's ahead of you. You can't forget qualifying for the Champions League. What's the next step? We might get to the last eight. That's the next challenge for me. Can we maintain this run in the league? Can we play the football that brings the punters in through the door? If we could get [James] Forrest fit for a week it would help."

There is a smile in this observation but there is a seriousness, too, and it chimes with the mood of a manager whose first taste of success has set up an unquenchable craving.