Perpetual motion

His banishment from the sidelines because of using sweary words in Paisley (how the town swooned at this unaccustomed crudity) meant the Celtic manager had to watch his side's stroll to the title from a distance, but his anxiety was finally allayed as a brilliant second-half rendered irrelevant a largely lacklustre first period.

He could thus wait in the tunnel after the 4-1 victory for 15 minutes to pass so he could make a triumphant entrance to Celtic Park. He talked of the glorious past of the club and exulted in the victorious present. He will be already turning his focus to the future.

The inevitability of a consecutive championship may have been obvious to most observers but Lennon is now charged with winning another. His frustration at Celtic's repeated inability to break through against a well-organised Inverness Caledonian Thistle side should be taken in conjunction with his statement at the weekend that Celtic need to strengthen up front.

His deep satisfaction at a second league title as a manger will be complemented by immediately forming a strategy to collect another. There are two elements to this issue for a manager barely able to celebrate before he embarks on plans to redesign a side for its first, crucial challenge before a ball is hit in anger at The Open championship at Muirfield in mid-July. The first leg of the second qualifying round for the Champions League takes place on July 16/17 and the Celtic manager will need his team at its most powerful for matches that will define the season in financial and sporting terms.

His first problem will be to come to the terms with the departed. Gary Hooper, who scored two beautiful goals yesterday, is likely to be playing with another side come the Glasgow Fair. In football cliche terms, he was asked to pledge his future to the club. Would he be at Celtic next season? "We will see," he vowed. Lennon has already made a submission to the board over the striker's remuneration but may find his priority in a truncated summer will be to replace the Englishman's 28 goals and find someone who can link play with the facility of the former Scunthorpe striker.

Hooper has looked distracted since the possibility of a move to Norwich City dissolved in the January window but his scoring interventions yesterday were but an unnecessary reminder that he poses Celtic's most potent and persistent threat in front of goal, and the club may have to pay a substantial part of his transfer fee to recruit an adequate replacement.

There have been murmurs that Johnny Russell of Dundee United is a possible signing but Lennon has long hankered after a centre-forward who can hold up the ball and win headers in all areas of the park. Daryl Murphy was bought to fulfil this role but left without making a dent in the fans' collective memory. Lennon may just have funds to buy a Hooper lite and the big striker he craves. With Georgios Samaras, who scored dramatically yesterday, staying on, Anthony Stokes offered a contract extension and Tony Watt prowling in the wings, Celtic would thus have the firepower to succeed on two fronts.

Lennon's second area of interest will be to increase the creativity in midfield. Kris Commons again showed yesterday that he has the ability to provide opportunities for front men. His contribution this season has slowly become more impressive in terms of goals scored and passes made. He has glided though to become the most influential player for his team in the rerun-in to what might yet be a domestic double. The manager pointed out after the game that the midfielder had worked hard in pre-season and is happy and influential in the side.

Any residual frustration after a day of triumph in Celtic ranks can be traced solely to the fragility of James Forrest. He limped off at half-time yesterday after a first-half performance that gave evidence of his ability to beat a defender, to cross the ball dangerously and to drift inside to cause havoc to a retreating defence.

Forrest has started only eight league matches for Celtic this season. His manager, whose first move in his new job was to promote the winger, has long held the Scottish internationalist's talents in the highest regard. Forrest, with his quickness and directness, is a game changer. A sustained period of fitness next season would provide Lennon almost with a new signing. His run towards the Champions League qualifiers will thus start with a period of recuperation.

There is no rest for Lennon. Amid more than 50,000 delirious supporters, he declared himself the "happiest man in Scotland". He is about to become the busiest.