It is hard to image the pressure on anybody managing one of the Old Firm. Unless, of course, you have been in one of the hot seats yourself. Gordon Strachan was manager at Parkhead between 2005 and 2009 so may have some sort of insight into what Neil Lennon has to deal with. He also manager Lennon so has a view of how he copes with difficulties. Strachan feels that Lennon can come through his troubles which have included being sent bullets and parcel bombs, and attacked by a fan during the 3-0 win over Hearts at Tynecastle.
Strachan said: "Any crisis I've seen Neil in when I was the manager, whether it was on or off the field, he dealt with everything brilliantly. He got on with his job as if nothing had happened and I think he's still got that. You need that as a Celtic or Rangers manager, to be able to handle a few things."
Strachan knows all about what it is like to be attacked while doing his job. As an Aberdeen player during the 1980s, Strachan was attacked twice on the park, both times by Celtic supporters, which allowed him to have a joke at Lennon's expense. He said: "Attacking a football person is nothing new. It's retro. I started it years ago. I was better than Neil, I had two doing it."
Strachan, though, knows how serious it is to finish second to Rangers in the title race but believes his former captain did little wrong. He said: "Finishing with 92 points is good going after taking over the club who last year had a real rocky period. He had to sell one of his best players in Aiden McGeady and that's not easy. With a wee bit of luck, he could have won the league. But it is all about winning. I can say 92 points but no one will remember that in a wee while, they will just remember who won the trophies. And so you have to hand it to Rangers, 93 points is some going. Similar in a way to Manchester United, they stuck at it during the season and picked up points when they weren't playing that great and when some of their good players got back, they kicked on from there. So you have to say well done sometimes."
Despite the off-field problems which have affected Lennon this season, Strachan would still recommend moving to Glasgow to any manager. He went on: "I have said to people in England that if you get a chance to go to Celtic or Rangers - more so Celtic - then you take it. It gives you things you wouldn't dream of like Champions League and you can make millions of supporters happy on a Saturday night, that's what you get. And it also tests you as a person. Whatever you think you've done at a run-of-the-mill team in the Premiership in England, it is nothing to what is going to happen to you and I think that is good for you. There are loads of things I miss - one or two I don't miss that's for sure."