Paul Lambert has backed Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou to beat Rangers on Saturday in a bid to strengthen their Scottish Premiership title grip - and emulate Hoops hero Martin O'Neill in the process.
Lambert spent eight seasons at Parkhead, with five of those being under O'Neill in the east end of Glasgow as the former Champions League winner romped to three league titles and three domestic cups under the Irishman. Celtic enjoyed their best spell at the top of the tree for quite some time under O'Neill, and haven't looked back since by winning 16 of the 22 titles available to them since he took over at the turn of the century.
Now, that era of dominance is being continued by Postecoglou, who won a debut double last season and only missed out on a famous treble with a loss to Rangers in the Scottish Cup semi-final. Lambert believes that a treble is almost certainly on the cards for the Australian boss this season.
Whilst he states that he has some time to go to match O'Neill's output, he lauded Celtic for appointing a "revelation" of a boss - with their dominance "unlikely" to end any time soon. He told BBC Sport: "When you look at Celtic as a whole, they are so strong. Kyogo gets plaudits for his goals and Callum McGregor is so consistent he is an eight or nine out of 10 every week.
"Reo Hatate is coming on to a game. Matt O'Riley is a great player who can do fantastic things. But it's the manager who has been the revelation. He knows the Japanese market and that has been a massive plus when you look at his recruitment.
"If I think back to my time at the club, we needed someone like Martin O'Neill to come in and galvanise us. There are some similarities between the two, but this team is different. It's a new era and the team are in a new moment.
"The team I played in had everything. We had skill, strength, goal scorers, guys who had won big trophies. This group is a great team to watch, but they will want to make their own mark.
"Win on Saturday and the league is virtually over, if it isn't already. Then you're on to the Scottish Cup semi-final against Rangers. No disrespect to Falkirk or Inverness Caledonian Thistle, but it's hard to see them stopping this Celtic team eyeing a treble. Ange hasn't won the Scottish Cup, so he will be keen to add that to his list of successes in Glasgow.
"Making a dent in Europe will also be incredibly high on his wishlist during his time at the club, but that's for another day and another season. Celtic need to live in this moment and seize it, and under the current manager, I can't see them doing anything else."
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