FORMER Celtic coach Steve Walford will this week become Neil Lennon's assistant manager at Bolton Wanderers.
The ex-Arsenal and West Ham defender, who has been on Martin O'Neill's coaching staff for the past 25 years, had been working with the Republic of Ireland national team.
Johan Mjallby, Lennon's No2 since 2010, left Bolton last week for family reasons, and Lennon has moved quickly to bring in a man he has known since their Leicester City days which stretch back almost 20 years.
Lennon said: "We're close to appointing Steve Walford. He's worked with Martin O'Neill for the last 20-25 years. I had 10 years under him as a player with him, Martin and John Robertson.
"He's currently first-team coach with Republic of Ireland, and he will continue those duties, but we'll hopefully get that finalised today (Monday) and he will be here tomorrow.
"He knows the way I work. He knows my personality and vice versus. He's got a wealth of experience, from League One, League Two, Championship, Premier League, Scotland, Europe, Champions League, international level - he's coached at every spectrum of the game.
"I'm very fortunate that he's agreed to come and really grateful for Martin for giving us this opportunity as well.
"We've kept in touch over the years. I've got a huge respect for him, he had a huge influence on my career, as did Martin. I basically learned the top end of the game from them guys. He's looking forward to the challenge - it's fantastic for us."
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