Job for the Bhoy

sh: Is it true that only a few people realised the strain Gordon Strachan was under during Tommy's final weeks?

PL: "I don't think people fully appreciate the stresses and strains of being the Celtic manager and that was ongoing while there was also the personal dimension of Tommy and the other tragedies. It was a really emotional time. We all knew what was going on and we all kept it private. There were remarkable extremes of pain and joy and sadness and delight in those weeks at the end of the season. John Cushley had died as well, which affected Tommy. We had Phil O'Donnell and we had Scott Brown's sister Fiona, who died of skin cancer in May. So all of that was going on."

sh: What did Tommy Burns mean to you and how will you feel today?

PL: "What struck me about Tommy was his love for the club. The amount of hours he put in was just incredible. Right up to a matter of weeks before his death he was working. The last time I spoke to him was on business about a week before he died, when he was in France for treatment. He had remarkable strength, energy and love for the club. He was a great guy to have met and worked closely with, given that I had watched him playing when I was younger. I'll feel mixed emotions when the flag is unfurled. Three in a row: a fantastic achievement. A real celebration. But it will be tinged with the sadness that Tommy's not there. We are delighted that Rosemary has said she will do it. I think that's very fitting for her and the family and we hope they have a great day."

sh: It'll all be a wee bit different from flag unfurlings in previous years. There have been chairmen booed from the stands on days like this...

PL: "Aye well, maybe from a very small minority. We have seen that in the past ..."

sh: People might expect you and others at the club to gloat about Rangers losing to Kaunas last Tuesday. Do you have to guard against seeming triumphalist?

PL: "It is easy not to be triumphalist, for me anyway, because of the humility which surrounds this club. We were in the same situation three years ago when we lost the title on the last day at Motherwell and then went into a qualifier against Artmedia Bratislava and got knocked out. So we've been there and we understand what it takes to come back from that. The motivation that I and others at the club got to win the title back after losing on that day at Motherwell was extraordinary. That day was one of the worst of my life. Thankfully we were able to win the league back the following season."

sh: Celtic recovered from Artmedia to win the league that season. You have to accept that Rangers could go on to do the same this time?

PL: "Celtic have shown that it can be done and Rangers will mount a challenge, there's no doubt about that. So you can't rest on your laurels. You can't be triumphalist. You can't take anything for granted. Celtic must be focused on winning one title at a time. The fundamentals at Rangers are very, very strong. They have a huge fanbase. They will always be there and they will always be a threat to Celtic, as we always will be to them."

sh: When one Old Firm team wins three in a row their fans start to talk of four and before you know it they've jumped to the magical nine. Can you start to think about a long era of Celtic supremacy?

PL: "We have to take one season at a time. Our main focus is winning this title, making it four in a row, and then seeing what happens. We have a responsibility to make Celtic as good as it possibly can be, and if that means five, six, seven, eight, nine in a row then so be it. But we are focused every year on improving. The fans' aspirations and expectations are the highest and so they should be, that's fitting for Celtic. Our job is to try and deliver that for them. It seems to be working because we have met all our season book targets and we have more families now than ever. We are going to be releasing another 1000 seats as season books next week. We're charging £50 for under-12s and that works out at £2.63 per game."

sh: Celtic won the league by three points but the final table didn't end the debate about who had the best team last season. What do you make of the theory that Rangers would have been champions if they hadn't reached the Uefa Cup final?

PL: "I think we thoroughly deserved to win the title. The best team won the league. We played the best football and we had the best character and determination and those last seven games Celtic won them all were phenomenal."

sh: The SPL season was extended by four days and you said the league's "sporting integrity" would be damaged if there was any further extension. Walter Smith responded to that by saying: "Peter Lawwell seems to be the head of the sporting integrity committee, as chairman and head spokesman". How do you look back on that exchange?

PL: "We stood our ground firmly. We knew we had to get our point in very early because we could see what was coming. I think that was right. Walter clearly disagreed but he has to look after his own team and I can respect that. There is nothing in it personally. I've met him a couple of times since then and both of us had a smile about it. We understand the game.

"At Celtic we support flexibility in fixtures but not on an ad hoc basis. We believe in flexibility in start dates and end dates, we believe in flexibility before big games, and we believe in a winter break. But it has to be decided in advance. What you can't do is change the rules when you are 60-70% of the way through a competition. At the end of the day Lex Gold and the guys at the SPL did the right thing. Under huge media pressure and apparent pressure from the SFA - why? We do not know - they stood firm and did the right thing. That was very, very positive in terms of Lex and Iain Blair and how they went about it. They did all they possibly could to accommodate Rangers."

sh: Were you and Celtic trying to obstruct Rangers?

PL: "We did not want to disadvantage Rangers in the Uefa Cup. But by allowing another extension to the Premier League season you would not only have been advantaging them in the Uefa Cup, you would have been advantaging them in the SPL. That was unfair. At the end of the day it got a wee bit messy but full credit to Lex and Iain. In an ideal world Rangers would have been given time to prepare for the Uefa Cup final without getting an advantage in the SPL. But the two were mutually exclusive. At the end of the day the right thing was done, I strongly believe that."

sh: This week Celtic received a further £2 million or so in Champions League income because of Rangers being knocked out. Will that mean an additional signing?

PL: "It does give us some flexibility to do more but we already have our plans. I'd be worried if I was a Celtic fan who thought we waited until Rangers went out of the Champions League before we made our plans. But it does give us more flexibility in terms of what we do in the transfer market with three weeks left before the window closes."

sh: So you expect other signings to be made before August 31?

PL: "I do. I would be very disappointed if we didn't strengthen the squad between now and the end of the transfer window. If we don't, it won't be because of lack of will or effort. Then we would just have to focus on January."

sh: At £150,000 for a 24-year-old from Derry City, Pat McCourt was an unconventional signing for Celtic. Why go for him?

PL: "We watched him for a while. The guy has fantastic ability. He has fitness issues but he's got great ability. We'd rather have that than someone who is fit but has ability issues. He is someone we can develop, put into our centre of excellence, expose to our sports science and our coaches' analysis, and turn into an SPL and a Champions League player. He's a fantastic lad."

sh: Celtic's next set of financial figures will be out in the next couple of weeks. Bobo Balde and Thomas Gravesen are still around, draining money out of the club.

PL: "My view is that it's clear that these guys won't participate on a regular basis in the first team. I think that's clear. As professional footballers, I think it's better for us to find a solution with them that allows them to move on and further their careers. Bobo Balde in particular has given magnificent service to Celtic and it would be really unfortunate if the memory of what he did for us was tarnished by how he leaves the club."

sh: November is the fifth anniversary of your arrival as chief executive. You've spoken before about timing and the secret of knowing when to get out. So when are you off?

PL: "Yes, indeed ... at the moment I love the club, I love my job. It would take an awful lot for me to leave this job ... voluntarily.

"I think there is more to be done. I believe that. I don't want to be doing anything else. I think if we had come to the end here in terms of how I thought I could help the club then that would be different, but I still think we can push this thing further."

sh: You have a media profile and that can be a good or bad thing for an Old Firm figure. Has this job influenced your private life?

PL: "That was one of the major considerations I had before I took the job: how would this impact on my family and my social life, my life outside work? It hasn't really. I've had no real hassle from Rangers fans. I've had no real hassle from Celtic fans. Anyone I meet has been very kind and grateful for what they think I've done here.

But it is literally a seven days a week, 52 weeks a year job. I kind of expected that as well. You need a tolerant wife for that and thankfully I've got one Anne Marie. Thankfully she realises what this job means to me. If you are passionate about anything I don't think you can switch off and I don't think I've ever felt so passionately about anything I've done."

sh: After another summer of speculation that Gordon Strachan would leave Celtic, another season starts and here he is again. Was there a quiet moment when you sat down together and he told you he was staying?

PL: "We sat here the day after we'd won the league at Tannadice. And as he came back from holiday we sat down and had another chat. So we knew exactly what he was thinking. It was brilliant. We knew he was coming back. We had planned what we were doing long before he went off on holiday."

sh: Will there ever be a day when there isn't debate about the Celtic support not liking him?

PL: "I'm not a subscriber to that. Again, I think it's a minority and, no matter what happens, they're not going to change. When I am with him he is treated very respectfully and there is a connection between him and the supporters. I think people saw the connection he has with the club and the people during the tragedy of losing Tommy. People appreciated that."