Johan Mjallby desperate to return to Celtic under Neil Lennon

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Johan Mjallby has told Open Goal that he would “definitely” return to Celtic as a coach if Neil Lennon wanted him to join his backroom staff at Parkhead.

Celtic legend Mjallby, 48, played 198 times for Celtic in the space of six years, after joining the club in 1998 from AIK Solna for a fee believed to be in the region of £1.5million.

After leaving in 2004, Mjallby was back at Celtic in 2010 after Lennon made the Swede his assistant. Mjallby then followed Lennon to Bolton Wanderers, and has since become a manager in his home country.

He is currently manager of FC Stockholm – a fourth-tier side in Sweden. But asked if he would join Lennon’s coaching staff again, Mjallby was in no doubt: “Oh, most definitely, yes.”

It remains to be seen if Lennon will remain in charge at Parkhead, with many somewhat frustrated at Celtic’s lack of attacking prowess since Brendan Rodgers left. Lennon’s side have scored only 13 goals in his 10 matches as boss.

But the have won seven and drawn three, including a 2-1 win over rivals Rangers and most recently a 1-0 win over Hibernian. He remains interim boss, with Celtic yet to decide whether he will be made manager permanently.

If Lennon stays, perhaps Mjallby will be brought back to the fold.

TBR’s view

Mjallby remains a big name at Celtic after winning three Scottish Premiership titles as a player, before helping Celtic win another three league titles as assistant – the start of their current consecutive row of seven league wins.

That is soon to be eight under Lennon, and could be nine or and the elusive 10 under the former midfield general. Adding someone like Mjallby into the mix, who has won titles as player and assistant, seems like a no brainer.