IT can’t really be said that the return of Peter Lawwell to Celtic has sent shockwaves through Scottish football. So expected was the news yesterday that when it landed, it would have struggled to send a ripple through a glass of water.

Like that famous scene from Jurassic Park though, what has been suspected for quite some time at Celtic is that a big beast is lurking nearby, and Lawwell’s presence was finally confirmed as he became the non-executive chairman of the club.

The prospect seems to have spooked some Celtic fans almost as much as that wide-eyed guy sitting on the khazi looking up at the T-Rex. And it is true, Celtic now face a job to convince the sceptics that Lawwell’s return is unlikely to cause much of a wave throughout the club or disturb the serene progress they have been making under the stewardship of Michael Nicholson.

Lawwell will officially take up the role vacated by Ian Bankier’s retirement at the start of January, though many suspect he has never really been away.

His successor as CEO, Dominic McKay, lasted just 72 days before being supplanted by Nicholson, who is known to be close to Lawwell. Immediately, doubts were cast on the role that McKay played in bringing Ange Postecoglou to the club, and the universally lauded Celtic manager again made clear Lawwell’s part in bringing him to Glasgow yesterday as he welcomed his return.

In fairness to the current Celtic CEO, Nicholson, his approach has at times been notably un-Lawwell-like, particularly when it comes to his willingness to back his manager in the transfer market.

As expected, the news was publicly vaunted by the Celtic hierarchy, including Nicholson himself, who said: "We are delighted to welcome Peter as chairman and I look forward to working with him as we continue to progress and develop the club.

"Peter has a wealth of experience in the football industry at a domestic, European and global level, which is invaluable to the club going forward.

"Our collective objective is to create a world-class football club that our supporters can be proud of, competing at the highest level, with a strategy based on growth and continuous improvement.

"On behalf of the board, and all of our colleagues at the club, I thank Ian Bankier for his service and contribution to our club, and wish him and his family the best for the future."

Dermot Desmond, the club’s principal shareholder, added: "I am delighted that Peter has agreed to take up the position of chairman. He is the outstanding candidate.

"Peter is a man of the highest quality, someone who has served the club already with real commitment and expertise and his experience and knowledge of the club, as well as of the wider global football environment, will help continue to drive the club forward.

"He is perfectly placed to work with Michael Nicholson, Chris McKay and the board to ensure we continue to compete in Scottish and European football and to manage the challenges and opportunities in a European context.”

While it can be argued that the views of Nicholson and Desmond are entirely legitimate, they speak to a disconnect between the board and the support that still exists, with a general befuddlement within the club at the way Lawwell’s legacy is widely viewed on the terraces.

Celtic may have won 29 trophies under Lawwell’s watch, but many fans lay the blame for the one they wanted most slipping through their fingers – a tenth league title in a row – squarely at his door.

He is viewed by many not as a prudent custodian of Celtic’s finances, but a miserly Scrooge who has at times hampered the club’s progress with his frugality. Worse still, he is seen as being very much of the ‘old guard’, the epitome of the stale, pale and male blazers that occupy the Celtic Park boardroom, and hold the club back.

With his son, Mark Lawwell, also now employed by the club as head of recruitment, the return of Lawwell hardly helps dispel notions of nepotism and cronyism either.

What Lawwell does have in his favour from a public relations point of view is the endorsement of Postecoglou. Where they would be less likely to lend credence to Desmond’s vouching for Lawwell, no matter the wealth of experience he objectively will bring to his new role, fans will perhaps be more willing to give Lawwell the benefit of the doubt if Postecoglou is in his corner.

And if, as Postecoglou says, Lawwell was the chief instigator of the Australian’s appointment in the first place, then perhaps his judgment isn’t quite as bad as some would have you believe.

What is clear though is that the fans will not accept any blurring of the lines between Lawwell’s former position and his new role, and they will expect the direction of travel that Postecoglou and Nicholson have set the club on to continue unhindered.

That means a sustained commitment to the modernisation of Celtic, and while lending his undoubted experience and expertise when called upon, Lawwell keeping his neb out of duties that once were his, but are now no longer part of his remit.

It is on Lawwell now to prove he is not the dinosaur many Celtic fans, fairly or not, now suspect him to be.