Neil Lennon believes that he has unfinished business in the Champions League.
The Irishman enjoyed two campaigns in football’s top competition tasting the highs of beating Barcelona 2-1 but signed off with a humbling 6-1 defeat in the Nou Camp.
“That result (winning 2-1) will live with me for the rest of my days, it came very early in my managerial career,” he stated. “And I want to enjoy that feeling again somewhere down the line.”
Lennon quit Celtic at the end of last season, turning his back on a Champions League qualifying campaign without a job to move into.
Bolton finally ended his exile from front-line action but not before he had built up an impressive range of media contacts.
During the summer he gave a great insight into the game working for the BBC at the World Cup in Brazil and has regularly popped up on Sky Sports and BBC television since the new season started.
The media demands of managing Bolton are much less than he endured at Celtic allowing him a little time off to reflect on his traumatic times at Celtic.
In this Sky Sports feature he discusses the heated times of his first season as a manager admitting that he was perhaps too keen to make an impression.
Working for Martin O’Neill for the best part of a decade has made a massive impression on Lennon with the passion of his fellow Celt still found on the touchline.
The intensity of the Glasgow derby was a part of his everyday life at Celtic with those clashes likely to remain a reference point for any future Celtic manager.
That fixture defined Lennon and secured his place as Celtic manager winning the final derby match of Walter Smith’s reign before the fixture came to an end with an emphatic 3-0 win courtesy of a masterclass that saw Charlie Mulgrew, Kris Commons and Gary Hooper score memorable goals.
Through the interview the attraction of the Champions League is obvious- while he attempts to drive Bolton back towards the Premiership a certain tune will always be at the back of his mind.