Vorsprung Durch Celtic

Paul Lambert returned to Germany to do his coaching badges, but not without a little help and winning experience from the Hoops

PAUL Lambert was already a winner, both home and abroad, by the time he signed for Celtic in November 1997 as Wim Jansen was building the team that would stop the 10.

The cultured midfielder had lifted the Scottish Cup with St Mirren as a 17-year-old 10 years earlier, and it was while with Motherwell that his performance against Borussia Dortmund in the 1994/95 UEFA Cup was noted by the opposition – and not forgotten.

In 1996 he moved the German side and he starred as Borussia bossed the 1997 UEFA Champions League final with a 3-1 win over a high-flying Juventus side.

Within months, though, Lambert was back home in Scotland and at Celtic. The silverware just kept rolling in for Lambert and the Hoops as he played his part in four titles, two more Scottish Cups and two League Cups as well as just missing out on more European glory when he captained the Hoops to the UEFA Cup final in Seville in 2003.

Those achievements came amid 19 goals in 273 Celtic games played between joining the Hoops and moving to Livingston as player/manager in 2005.

The View caught up with Lambert in his final season with Celtic to find out about his planned road to management, and the results were published in the November 24, 2004 issue.

SOME of you might not be aware that, as Scotland’s students prepare to undergo exams prior to breaking for Christmas, Paul Lambert is also knuckling down for assessments of his own.

His revision is not geared towards a degree, of course, but instead a coaching qualification that he has spent the last eight months training and studying for in the German city of Cologne, and one which he hopes will smooth a passage into the volatile world of football management.