Paul Lambert has distanced himself from possibly taking on the Celtic managerial position if Neil Lennon was to be sacked.

The former Hoops captain spent eight years as a player at Parkhead and has recently worked at the likes of Aston Villa, Norwich and Stoke City as a manager.

The bookies have Lambert amongst the favourites to replace Lennon if he was to be axed, but the former Dortmund midfielder has dismissed the speculation.

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He told The Scottish Sun: “Listen, I spoke to Lenny the other day, he’s a good pal and I just phoned him to give him support because I saw the things that were going on with the Celtic fans, that’s not them, it’s not them.

“I had eight brilliant years there, the people at Celtic are really good and they’re having a little bit of a hard time with the league but last night was brilliant.

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“Delighted for Lenny and delighted for everybody at the football club to win but that’s not my thing.

“As I say, I had eight brilliant years. One or two little hard ones that you normally get but pressure-wise everything that goes with that club is brilliant.

“But Lenny, he’s a good pal and I really hope he turns it around. Well, he’s not got to turn it around because that’s wrong because he’s done really well there and the result last night would have certainly helped him.”