Ipswich Town manager Paul Lambert has dismissed suggestions that he could be in line to take over at Celtic.

Lambert is a former Celtic captain, and has recently been linked with taking over from his former Hoops teammate Neil Lennon at Parkhead, following a disappointing run of results for the reigning Scottish champions.

However, Lambert has appeared to knock back suggestions of a return to Glasgow, instead throwing his support behind Lennon n his attempts to turn things around at the club.

Speaking about those rumours of a return to Celtic after their 3-2 Europa League win over Lille on Thursday night, Lambert was quoted by The Scottish Sun as saying: “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.

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

Indeed, it seems Lambert is still strongly backing Lennon to retain his position with the Scottish giants, as he went on to add: “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.”

For his part, Lambert's Ipswich side currently sit third in the League One table, three points adrift of an automatic promotion place, despite winning just two of their last eight games in all competitions.

The Verdict

This revelation from Lambert probably isn't exactly the worst thing from a Celtic perspective.

While you could understand it if Lennon is indeed under some pressure at Parkhead given recent results, it is hard to imagine Lambert being the best man for the job were they to search for a replacement.

Lambert himself is under some pressure given those recent disappointing results he has endured with Ipswich, and with that in mind, you have to feel it would be a risk for Celtic to take a chance on him.

Indeed, it also seems as though Lambert is reluctant to throw his old teammate under the bus here, and that is something you feel Lennon will appreciate given the challenging time he has faced in the past few months.