John Hartson can hardly believe that he is watching the same man on the touchline.
The colours remain firmly green and white, with grey or black, but down in the technical area Neil Lennon appears to be a man transformed as he drives Celtic on towards a treble treble.
Hartson doesn’t hide his support and admiration for his old team-mate but he’s not blinded by his flaws.
There is a balancing act between showing controlled passion to get results and allowing it to spill over and become counter productive.
Since taking over from Brendan Rodgers on a caretaker Lennon has been without a number of key players with Tom Rogic, Ryan Christie, Olivier Ntcham and Filip Benkovic all recovering from injury.
Christie and Rogic were in the wars at Hampden on Sunday but there wasn’t a single picture of a ‘fuming’ Lennon booting over bottles or screaming at match officials.
In the Evening Times Hartson explained:
It’s a strange old situation at the minute and the support is divided over it, but in all fairness to Neil, he has conducted himself so well through it all.
He looks calmer, he’s not waving his arms about and screaming and hollering at referees as he might do 10 years ago.
He has made mistakes as a young manager, but he seems to have learned from them. He’s passionate, and you don’t want to take that away from him.
The club know Neil, they know what he brings. He’s not a stranger to the club or the board.
I don’t think Celtic can leave the decision until after the Scottish Cup final. The call should be made now.
There has to be some clarity, for both Neil and the club, to move forward, and I think he has shown he is more than up to the job.
Despite the speculation swirling around about who will get the manager’s job on a permanent basis Lennon has distanced himself from the issue.
Absolutely nothing to compare these two challenges
— Joe McHugh (@videocelts) April 16, 2019