Neil Lennon always knew Paul Lambert would make a top coach and is relishing the opportunity to test his own managerial skills against his former team-mate tonight.
The Scottish champions are to take a strong side south for Adam Drury's testimonial, with the veteran Norwich City defender to be honoured for his 11 seasons service with the Carrow Road club.
Lambert has performed minor miracles since taking charge at the Norfolk club in August 2009, masterminding successive promotions and then securing their top-flight status with a respectable 12th-place finish. The former Borussia Dortmund and Celtic midfielder, who won four league titles during his time at Parkhead under Martin O'Neill, inevitably has been linked with a move away and is reportedly on Aston Villa's shortlist.
Lennon is not surprised by his former colleague's rise. "I am looking forward to seeing Paul," said the Celtic manager. "He has done an absolutely brilliant job at Norwich. I am delighted for him and his backroom staff, whom I know very well, and for Adam Drury – any player now in the modern game who does more than 10 years at a club is unique, so we are delighted to be part of that.
"Paul has already proved he has got what it takes and it does not surprise me there is a lot of speculation surrounding him – the more successful you are, the more the big clubs will want to take you. I don't want to prise him away from Norwich, or say words to that effect, but it is the way of the world, it is a natural progression, but I think he is pretty happy there."
One player who will not be involved this evening is Biram Kayal. The midfielder has travelled with the Israeli national team to a summer training camp in Austria but insists that he will spend the summer getting fit so that he is ready to hit the ground running next season.
Kayal returned from an ankle injury suffered against Rangers just after Christmas and played for the final 23 minutes as Celtic romped to a 5-0 final day victory over Hearts at Parkhead earlier this month. That prompted Eli Guttman, the Israel coach, to call up Kayal for games against the Czech Republic and Germany but Celtic have contacted the Israeli FA and have come to an arrangement over the midfielder's services so that he can train with the group but not play any part in the games.
Kayal, himself, insisted he cannot wait for the new season to start. He said: "I am taking this training camp very seriously. The [Israel] manager was in constant contact with me when I was injured. He phoned me every week and got the Israeli team doctors to phone and check on my progress, too. He decided it would be a good idea to build myself up slowly in terms of fitness and get back kicking a ball but they have agreed with Celtic that I won't play.
"I need to get back to full fitness in time for the new season – it's important to be back 100% for the Champions League qualifiers. We begin the World Cup qualifiers, too, in September so it's a big season for me."
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