Jeremie Frimpong arrived a Celtic as a fresh-faced kid among a sea of hardened, experienced pros.

The young Dutchman pitched up at Lennoxtown having never played a first-team game of football at Manchester City. A raw talent who had pace to burn and inexperience to shed. He could have been forgiven for cowering at the pressure of playing for a successful Hoops team but the then-18-year-old credits his captain for convincing him he could make it.

Scott Brown, after all, was a Hibs hero at just 17 when he made his debut. He became the gallus and brash midfielder at Parkhead after a decent grounding in Leith. And, to Frimpong, he had all the experience in the world to pass down and help the young right-back both fit in at Celtic and reach his potential.

So when Neil Lennon resigned as boss last week, Frimpong was not surprised to hear Brown's name being banded around when the conversation of who should replace the Northern Irishman came up.

"If he wanted to be a manager I feel he'd be a great manager," Frimpong said. "The way he speaks, the way he motivates the players. He knows a lot about the game and has been in the game a long time, so he's experienced. I feel he'd be a great manager."

Brown has a wealth of knowledge and Frimpong has, before leaving in an £11.5million move to Bayer Leverkusen this season, picked his brain often enough. The defender credits his former skipper with providing the advice which helped him go on and succeed in Glasgow.

But it was never lengthy lectures from the captain. Instead, Frimpong remembers brief conversations with Brown where he'd highlight the youngster's talents and ensure he knew how to make the most of them. That, to the right-back, is what makes Brown stand out. And while the Hoops management position may come a bit too early for him now, Frimpong has no doubts that it may be one to revisit in the future.

"When I first came and played my first match (Broony) would tell me what I should do, what's best for me in this position," he added. "He'd say, 'Use your ability when you go forward and attack them, you're the fastest in the league, they won't catch you', things like that. 

"Defensively he would tell me as well, about my positioning and that I can't always rely on my speed. If you put yourself in a better position then you don't even have to use it. He's more experienced and would give me little things like this, and it really helped, because look at where I am today! I'll always be grateful."

Lennon's exit came, perhaps, under a cloud for supporters who had been furious with Celtic's results and performances for months leading up to the final farewell. But for a man who has brought so much success to the club over the years - including trebles as both a player and manager - Frimpong found the abuse and criticism to be over the top.

The green and white Glasgow contingent had forgotten, Frimpong says, how to lose after years of dominance. And Lennon may well have become a victim of his own success. "I think in football, obviously Celtic in previous years would always win games, but there was always going to be a point when they can't win everything," Frimpong went on. 

"There was always going to be a time where they'd have to lose. So the criticism Neil Lennon was getting was a bit over the top. In football it's normal. But I feel like the Celtic fans were so used to winning that when it started going downhill, they didn't know how to feel about it. But it's normal to feel like that.

"It's not easy to win games, if you play teams they're going to want to show you they're not easy. To us it was hard. The Celtic fans throughout the years they've been winning trophies, that is not easy. It's very hard to do, and now that [the players] went through a spell, they get criticised. But it's not easy at all and they have to move on from that.

"After we came back from Dubai we, as a team, said that we had to get going again, play the second half of the season and win everything. All the noise from the outside we closed it off, we couldn't think about that, we were just thinking about game after game."

Bundesliga giants Leverkusen splashed the cash this January on their new starlet but Frimpong is not the only Celtic player who is likely to go for megabucks in the not-too-distant future.

Odsonne Edouard, Kris Ajer and the likes of Ryan Christie and David Turnbull continue to be linked with moves away for big money. And Frimpong reckons they all deserve top transfers should the opportunity arise.

Questioned about Edouard and Ajer, he said: "Both players just mentioned among others are quality players. I feel like anywhere they go they'll fit in, they're that good. And if I see them [at Leverkusen], of course I'll be happy."