PAUL LAMBERT proudly owns the shirts of Lothar Matthaus, Rivaldo and Gheorghe Hagi but not Zinedine Zidane's.
He's not a souvenir hunter.
He has won the Champions League, four Scottish Premier League titles, three Scottish Cups, two Scottish League cups and been inducted into Scottish football's Hall of Fame.
He's not a glory hunter.
The former St Mirren, Motherwell, Borussia Dortmund, Celtic, Livingston and Scotland star describes his career as "mad".
It is you know. Bonkers.
The player took a gamble on himself in 1996 because according to folklore Motherwell would not stump up an extra £50 a week for his services.
After leaving Motherwell, an agent arranged trial spells for Lambert with both PSV Eindhoven and Borussia Dortmund.
He impressed Borussia Dortmund boss Ottmar Hitzfeld so much he penned a deal with the Germans. Lambert's gamble paid off big style.
He shared a Dortmund dressing room with a who's who of European football - Matthias Sammer, Andreas Moller, Jurgen Kohler, Stephane Chapuisat, Karl-Heinz Riedle, Paulo Sousa to name but a few.
Within a year he had won European football's biggest prize as he helped Borussia Dortmund win the Champions League in 1997.
Lambert played in the Champions League final as a defensive midfielder, quelling the influence of a certain French playmaker called Zinedine Zidane. It was Lambert's cross that set up the opening goal for Karl-Heinz Riedle as Dortmund won 3–1.
He became the first British person to win the European Cup with a non-UK team and the first to win the tournament since its reformation as the Champions League in 1992.
His brief German sojourn ended when Celtic came calling in November 1997.
The £2 million that Wim Jansen shelled out to secure Lambert will rank as one of the best pieces of business the club has ever conducted, especially when Juventus and Besiktas were also keen to lure him away from the Westfalen Stadion.
The deal which would eventually be sealed by Celtic General Manager Jock Brown was cemented in the most unlikely of places - Pittodrie Stadium - as Wim Jansen and Murdo MacLeod made a last gasp attempt to convince Lambert to sign for Celtic.
Paul Lambert said: "My football career is mad, isn't it? It is real fairytale stuff the way it all panned out.
"When I left Motherwell I took a chance. They didn't know where I had gone and looking back it was probably not the right way to conduct my business.
"If I wasn't going to sign for Motherwell then where was I supposed to go?
"I was on trial at PSV Eindhoven first and then Borussia Dortmund. The latter was such a high level of football, it was absolutely incredible.
"I immersed myself in the German football culture. I had to speak the language of the dressing room. I just decided to go for it and see where it would all take me.
"That's where the mentally strong thing came in and stood me in good stead as I knew I had to fend for myself. I was programmed to cope with pressure and used to winning big games.
"When I look at the players that I played with in that Borussia Dortmund team they were world-class. Dear, oh dear, they were a cut above.
"You had guys who had won the highest honours in the game - World Cups, Bundesliga titles, Serie A titles - you name it they had won it. They were an unbelievable team with an unbelievable manager in Ottmar Hitzfeld.
"When Celtic came in for me I was happy in Germany. Juventus wanted to sign me on the back of my display in the Champions League final. Besiktas also came in and they were clubs all over Europe trying to get me and I kept saying no because I was really happy at Borussia Dortmund.
"I was with the best team in Europe and the supporters were a massive pull.The fans were just ridiculously good to me and I have a lot of affection for them to this day.
"Celtic came in for me and I initially resisted their overtures. Then Wim Jansen and Murdo MacLeod came to Pittodrie to watch Scotland when we played Belarus and they came into the dressing room before the game.
"They told me that they were going to try and sign me and I told them to do what they had to do as I had a game to prepare for.
"That's how it all transpired. The Dortmund episode catapulted me into a level where I could handle anything that was thrown at me on the biggest stage.
"I never swapped jerseys with anybody or looked for players in the tunnel. I always thought it was a sign of weakness or that you were somehow inferior. If I swapped a jersey it would always be a mutual thing.
"I've got Lothar Matthaus' jersey from a game when Borussia Dortmund played Bayern Munich in Munich. The ball was bouncing and I made a turn against him and he wiped me out with a scissors tackle.
"After the game, he came up and touched my shoulder and he said to me 'there's my shirt' and I gave him mine.
"This was a World Cup winner and he asked for my shirt, it was all a bit surreal. Even the likes of Rivaldo and Zinedine Zidane, I never ever went looking for their shirts. I never went looking for things as I knew I was at that level myself because of what I was doing myself.
"When we played Brazil in the 1998 World Cup, Scotland boss Craig Brown told me that I had to take care of Rivaldo.
"I was in his vicinity all the time and at the end of the game, we just swapped shirts because we were near each other nothing else. I wasn't looking for him.
"I played against Gheorghe Hagi and he was the best player I ever played against from a standing start.
"He was as fast as lightning and we played against Galatasaray in Turkey and he was going through on goal and I pulled him down by totally wiping him out.
"He hit the free-kick which hit the junction of the post and the crossbar and just went over and we beat them 1-0 over there.
"A few months later I played in a World X1 game in Turkey and I walked into the reception area and Hagi was there.
"He remembered me right away. He recognised that it was me who had made the tackle on him! I have got his shirt from that match but again it was a mutual thing.
"The best player I ever played against was Zinedine Zidane but I never swapped shirts with him. I met him a few years ago in Madrid and we spoke about the 1996 Champions League final but I was never really a souvenir hunter.
"That came from the Borussia Dortmund era as I was playing with such great players. Being in that dressing room just made me become one of them and I thought like one of them."
That's why Lambert admits that the transition to Celtic was in his own words "easy".
The thought of a Glasgow derby did not faze him especially when he had knocked out the likes of Manchester United and Galatasaray in European competition as well as performed the ultimate man-marking job on Zinedine Zidane.
Lambert was a confident player but never arrogant or cocky.
With Lambert alongside Craig Burley in midfield and Henrik Larsson banging in the goals upfront Celtic would topple a rampant Rangers off their lofty perch.
The men in green and white under the Dutchman shattered Walter Smith's Rangers hopes of achieving 10-in-a-row.
It's a feat that Lambert believes deserves more recognition, especially around Celtic Park as there is very little to commemorate the enormity of the task that Wim Jansen had masterminded.
Lambert believes that Wim Jansen deserves far more credit for preserving Jock Stein's legacy.
In a pressure cooker of a campaign, Lambert like Jansen took it all in his stride.
He admits that for a spell when Wim Jansen quit the club in the aftermath of winning the title that his own Celtic future was hanging in the balance.
Lambert said: "Once you have played alongside the calibre of player that I played with at Borussia Dortmund then a Celtic vs Rangers game was easy to handle.
"I never felt under severe pressure in derby matches. I never felt an inferiority complex at all with regards to Rangers when I was a Celtic player. We lost a few of them when I was at Celtic but we won more than our fair share.
"If you look at Wim Jansen's era Rangers were a brilliant side as well and you cannot take that away from them. Some of the Rangers players were my teammates with Scotland and we had a good bond.
"Celtic was up against a top Rangers side during that 1997/98 campaign. I have always said that Wim's title-winning Celtic sides achievement was colossal. I don't think he ever got the credit that he deserved for winning that league championship.
"That team was cobbled together, built in a season and had to compete against one of the best ever Rangers teams. To win that title and stop 10-in-a-row was an unbelievable achievement.
"That is the most pressure Celtic have been under in a season probably since 1967. Those Celtic players were playing to preserve a huge piece of football history.
"My mentality that season was a German mentality. Nothing really fazed me about playing against Rangers or being in Glasgow. I knew the pressure was there but I didn't need to think about it.
"I never felt the pressure like other players did at Celtic that season as when I was at Borussia Dortmund we had to win games against Bayern, Schalke, Juventus, Manchester United, Galatasaray...I was used to that.
"I wasn't used to losing as I had that mentality to win. My job was to win games and that's what I tried to do.
"Wim was excellent during that time. There are not too many reminders of him at Celtic Park which is a bit sad really. It was the hardest ever title for Celtic to win.
"He protected the history of that great Celtic side under Jock Stein as that will never be bettered.
"That is why I think it is disappointing that there should be more made of him and to celebrate that achievement, especially around Celtic Park not for anybody else other than Wim.
"It was terrible when he left the club as I knew there were all sorts of stuff bubbling away in the background and things weren't right.
"When he did go, I wasn't sure about my Celtic future as I kept thinking I didn't come back for this. I came back to win the league. I did not return to Scotland for turbulence and turmoil. I did not want that in my career."
That same season saw Lambert enjoy one of his huge career highlights for Celtic. A stunning 20-yard screamer against Rangers in the New Year Glasgow derby of 1998 cemented a priceless 2-0 win.
It was not a bad way to celebrate your first goal in the Hoops. Lambert knew then that Celtic had the title bit between the teeth and it was game on in the race for the flag.
Lambert said: "We beat Rangers 2-0 at Celtic Park and that was a huge win for us. We knew we just had to win that day.
"I scored that screamer which was my first ever goal for Celtic. When you look at that match I would have said that had Craig Burley's goal won the game then I would have been over the moon. Then my moment came.
"I have smashed the loose ball and it has flown into the top corner like a bullet. It had to be something special like that to beat Andy Goram given the way he was performing against Celtic at that time.
"It was the moment the team, the players, the management and the supporters realised we could win the title. At that point, we all said we have Rangers in our sights again.
"It was going to be an unbelievably close-run title race. We all knew it was going to the wire and Wim was brilliant as he kept an unbelievably cool head throughout it all.
"He never got flustered as he had played in World Cup and European Cup finals and he knew exactly what was at stake. We were up against a rampant Rangers, there was massive pressure on Celtic to win the league.
"We had 14 or 15 really strong players and most of us kept fit that season. I think that played a hugely significant part in Celtic winning the title."
For every ying, there's a yang and the following season, Lambert was carted off on a stretcher in November at Ibrox in 1999 after trying to stop a howitzer from Rangers German midfield powerhouse Jorg Albertz.
In the third minute of first-half injury time Lambert slid in to block Albertz in the penalty area. The German hit the deck, referee Kenny Clark awarded a penalty to the hosts and the Celtic star left the field minus four teeth for his troubles as the match ended in a 4-2 victory for Rangers.
Lambert takes up the story and insists that he still blames then Celtic goalkeeper Jonathan Gould for the incident as he felt his shot-stopper was suffering from an attack of the jitters.
The 52-year-old said: "The funny thing about that Ibrox game when we lost 4-2 is that it all happened because of Jonathan Gould.
"Gouldy and I have a laugh about it all now. He was saving shots that were going wide and I have looked at him at one point and asked if he was alright?
"He told me he was fine but I wasn't quite sure as I thought he was very nervy.
"So Jorg Albertz winds up for that shot and I thought I'm going to have to throw myself in here as I wasn't 100 per cent sure that Gouldy was going to save it.
"I threw myself in and as everybody knows I was sent off, left the field on a stretcher and lost four teeth because of it.
"Do you know what? I would do the exact same thing tomorrow.
"That is the level of the game as you have to do everything that you can to win football matches.
"I think Dick Advocaat had one drink too many before the game or something because if he thought that was a penalty then he needs to look at some other things that have happened.
"My genuine gut feeling about that incident is that's the game. My job is to try and protect the goal. I would do the same thing all over again given the chance. I don't have any regrets about doing that.
"But I always tell Gouldy that it was his fault that I lost my teeth that day at Ibrox!"
It was the infamous season that saw John Barnes in charge of Celtic but Lambert reckons the former Liverpool star was way ahead of his time when it came to coaching.
Yet Barnes' time is arguably best summed up by the Inverness Caley Thistle debacle when Celtic was humiliated at home 3-1 by the Highlanders and dumped out of the Scottish Cup in 2000.
Lambert said: "That was the John Barnes managerial season at Celtic and he always gets slated for the Inverness Caley Thistle defeat in the Scottish Cup.
"We started that season as an absolute whirlwind and then I got injured and so did Henrik. That was unfortunate for John Barnes.
"I watched the TV recently and people were raving and talking about how Ralf Rangnick at Manchester United was playing a 4-2-2-2 system.
"John was doing that at Celtic over 20 years ago with the likes of Eyal Berkovic and Lubo Moravcik in the team. Nobody can reinvent the wheel.
"I would never have a bad word to say about any manager I have worked under in my football career.
"They have all played a huge part in my development and they all made me the player that I went on to become."
John Barnes understandably fell on his sword as the Martin O'Neill era was ushered in.
Lambert describes O'Neill's five years at the Paradise helm in one word: "Relentless."
He reckons that the dressing room that O'Neill went on to build at Celtic was akin to the one that Ottmar Hitzfled had assembled at Dortmund.
And he insists that every Celtic player could hold their own in both domestic and European company. There were no shrinking violets in O'Neill's side.
That much was true as Celtic went toe-to-toe with some of European football's biggest heavyweights of the time.
Lambert is the first to admit that Celtic Park was no place for the faint-hearted under O'Neill, John Robertson and Steve Walford which largely explains why no youngsters broke through the ranks.
Lambert revealed that O'Neill never worked on team shape at all because he trusted his players so much to carry out his instructions on the park.
Like Hitzfeld at Dortmund, Lambert believes O'Neill's greatest strength lay in the fact that there were no coded messages from the manager and how the Northern Irishman simplified everything.
Lambert said: "The Martin O'Neill era then came along and there is one word I would use to describe that time at Celtic Park and it is: Relentless "What a team that was.
"Celtic were a proper football team back then and we had really good players all over the pitch. We were relentless in training under Martin O'Neill, John Robertson and Steve Walford every day.
"We were all experienced and there were no young kids breaking into that Celtic team. Youngsters would have found it impossible to break into that Martin O'Neill side. They just wouldn't have got in.
"Sometimes young kids came into the training set-up and it was all too much for them and Martin would move them back down again.
"We needed a manager like Martin O'Neill to come into Celtic at that time. If you ask anybody the O'Neill era is the strongest era domestically and in Europe that Celtic have had for many years.
"Players buckle under the pressure of playing for that club and cannot handle it. I am talking about players who have come to the club with big reputations.
"There is a mentality needed to play for Celtic and players either sink or swim. The irony in all of this is that Martin O'Neill drummed it into the Celtic players of that era that football was a simple game.
"He made it easy for us. Celtic never did shape work or anything when Martin O'Neill was the manager. We all knew what to do!
"We all knew where to go on a pitch or where the danger was and we knew how to attack as we all knew the game.
"Wim Jansen was the same and so too was Ottmar Hitzfeld. Top players know where to go on a football park.
"He would speak to you a few minutes before a game and if you were to ask Martin himself he would say that he had top players playing for him. Great managers never complicate things. That's why they are brilliant to play under."
Two players shone out like beacons though during O'Neill's five-year tenure at the club - Henrik Larsson and Lubomir Moravcik.
Larsson bagged 242 goals in 315 games for Celtic and is rightfully lauded as the 'King of Kings'.
Lubo became known simply as a gift from God. Both monikers are equally apt.
Lambert said: "I loved playing with Henrik Larsson as he turned hopeful balls into great passes with his runs.
"I knew where he would be on a football pitch at all times. The biggest thing Henrik had was his work rate. He pressed and led from the front and he wasn't one of those strikers who let it go by him.
"Henrik was brilliant and he is judged on his goalscoring ability because that is the end product of your game but what a player he was. You just knew if Celtic got a chance nine times out of ten, Henrik would score it.
"Lubomir Moravcik was another player who was magnificent.
READ MORE: The turbulent Celtic reign of Dr Jo Venglos' 23 years on and his gift from god
"Dr Jo Venglos told me before anybody that Lubo was coming to the club.
"He asked me if I knew him because he had played in German football with Duisburg.
"I told him I didn't know him but he was going to sign him despite the fact he was 33 years of age.
"Lubo comes in and if you look at his first goal against Rangers in the 5-1 game at Celtic Park in 1999. He didn't know where he was or what to do or what all the fuss was about as the crowd were going mental.
"My God he could strike a ball with either foot, couldn't he?
"Technically, he was the most two-footed player I have played alongside. You could not tell what was Lubo's strongest foot. He was absolutely brilliant and what a fantastic player he was for Celtic and a cracking guy as well.
"The Martin O'Neill era was strong and powerful as Celtic had everything that you would want in a team.
"Rangers just found it hard in the first few years to get a grasp on us at that point.
"It's true what they say Celtic and Rangers will always be judged on what they do against each other."
Lambert though has one big career regret.
It will come as no surprise to the Celtic supporters when they learn that it is the 2003 UEFA cup final in Seville.
Despite an awe-inspiring display by Super Swede Henrik Larsson, O'Neill's side agonisingly lost 3-2 to Jose Mourinho's Porto.
READ MORE: Facing Henrik Larsson: Seven defenders he tormented open up on failing to stop the King of Kings
It robbed Lambert of the chance to possess two cherished European football winners medals.
Lambert said: "The only regret in my career is not winning the UEFA Cup with Celtic.
"I have the big one from my days at Borussia Dortmund but to have completed the set of winning the two main European medals would have been a wonderful career achievement.
"It is my biggest regret in football not winning the UEFA Cup for Celtic that night in Seville.
"I don't have too many other than that. We just fell short and you have to give Porto credit as they did a job on us.
"We needed a wee bit of luck and we could have played a wee bit better than we did as a team on the night."
Therefore it beggars the question of who would win between Ottmar Hitzfeld's Borussia Dortmund class of 1996/97 and Martin O'Neill's Celtic class of 2002/03?
Lambert said: "I have been asked that question so many times.
"The answer is it would be a bloody close-run thing. It is really hard to explain what that Borussia Dortmund team were like.
"That Dortmund team were so good. My answer to that question is always that Celtic and Borussia Dortmund were two good teams to play with.
"I had the pleasure of playing for two great clubs who have a wonderful affiliation with each other.
"One reached the ultimate pinnacle of what can be achieved in European football with an incredible side. One fell short of being a UEFA cup winning side.
"The best way I could put it is this: Borussia Dortmund were a special team. Celtic was a great team."
So how would Paul Lambert reflect on his eight-year stint at Celtic?
Lambert said: "It was just me doing my job and I would not look for any credit for it.
"My job was to win games and to help the team and the club to be as successful as possible. My job was to do the best I could in my career. People either like it or they don't, it's as simple as that."
Paul Lambert was made in Scotland. He was honed in Germany.
His name will feature on many Celtic supporters all-time greatest X1.
He was one of the most talented and influential midfield technicians this country has ever produced.
For eight years Paul Lambert was the Scottish epitome of "Vorsprung Durch Technik" as they say in Germany.
Wunderbar!
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