FORMER Manchester United manager David Moyes has declared his interest in the Celtic job - despite insisting Neil Lennon has done enough to earn a second crack at the role permanently.
Lennon is targeting a historic treble treble after taking the reins at Parkhead on a temporary basis following Brendan Rodgers’ decision to join Leicester in February.
The Northern Irishman remains unbeaten ahead of Sunday’s mouth-watering derby against Rangers and Moyes acknowledges that he deserves to be in pole position for the post.
However, Moyes, currently out of work after leaving West Ham last year, readily admits that he would find it impossible to say no to the club he represented as a player between 1980 and 1983.
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“I would always be interested in the Celtic job,” said the former Everton, Sunderland and Real Sociedad boss. “But I’ve got to say that Lenny is doing a brilliant job.
"He has been there before and I think the job he is doing at the moment would warrant being the Celtic manager. I really do.”
Speaking to BBC 5Live, Moyes confirmed that he is eyeing a return to club football rather than an international position after being listed among the potential replacements for Alex McLeish following Scotland’s miserable start to Euro 2020 qualifying.
And he leapt to the defence of the embattled coach following a dismal 3-0 defeat in Kazakhstan and underwhelming 2-0 win in San Marino.
He continued: “Club football would be my choice, but Scotland's my country and I'm really passionate.
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“The Scotland job is difficult for anybody because there's great expectation.
"I don't think there's any one way we can fix it. I don't have all the answers, but I've got some ideas and thoughts.
"There are many things we're not doing in Scotland, we've chosen to bring in lots of foreign players, and cheap foreign players, and maybe a lot of the young Scottish players are not getting the opportunities.
"We need to see if we can find a solution to develop more players, but we're not going to do it in two or four years, it's a 10 or 15-year plan."
Meanwhile, Moyes is adamant the Scottish Premiership title race is already over ahead of this weekend’s showdown at Parkhead. with Celtic going into the meeting with Rangers boasting a 10-point lead.
However, he reckons a win for Lennon’s men would end any lingering doubt.
READ MORE: Neil Lennon and Steven Gerrard go into Sunday's game under pressure for different reasons
“For Lenny, he is top of the league and if they beat Rangers, then it is over,” he continued. “I think it is over anyway! That would completely finish it.
"Celtic are looking for other forms of success, like in the Champions League and Europe. That is what they are looking to achieve.
“It is a big game for Steven [Gerrard] as well because, in my eyes, they can’t win anything. They have gone off the boil and this is an opportunity to equal things up for the afternoon. But Celtic are at home and will be expected to win it so for Rangers to go there will be really tough.”
Regardless of the result this weekend, Moyes believes his former Merseyside derby rival Steven Gerrard is at Ibrox for the long haul.
“If you are the manager of Rangers then you need to win trophies,” added Moyes. “It makes it difficult for whoever is in charge there. But I believe that Steven is there for the long-term and will get plenty of opportunities to do so.
“For him, the test will be to improve Rangers. I thought during the opening half of the season they did that. Rangers did improve and made some good signings. The team were playing better. But since the turn of the year they have not been as impressive.
“Celtic, as you would expect, have continued in the manner they have for several years now.”
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