FORMER Celtic defender John Mjallby has revealed how Rangers' 2012 financial implosion eventually led him to quit as Neil Lennon's assistant manager.

The Swede says the Ibrox side's administration - and subsequent liquidation - meant he ended up demotivated.

Mjallby left his role in 2014 having spent a total of 10 years at the club since 1998 - six as a player and four as a coach.

The 51-year-old said of his spell as assistant: "We signed a lot of good, young players cheaply and they turned out to be real stars for the club. The balance of power in Glasgow was shifting again.

"Everybody knows that happened to Rangers and my motivation in the job disappeared a wee bit when they imploded. It was a shame in that sense, as you always need a big rival."

Lennon brought Mjallby back to the club as his assistant manager in a move that was warmly welcomed by the supporters and the duo formed a strong double act to clinch their coveted first league title as a management duo in 2011-12.

READ MORE: A decade at Celtic, working with Lennon and why O'Neill could've been a world leader - Johan Mjallby Big Interview

The Swede helped the club win three Scottish Premiership titles in a row and a notable success over star-studded Barcelona in November 2012.

The 49-times capped former Sweden international said: "The call to become Neil's assistant came right out of the blue. After we both retired, I knew Neil had started to work with the youths and was part of the under-21s setup. We met up and he told me that he wanted to bring me on to the staff if he landed the Celtic job or got a gig elsewhere.

"Lenny trusted me, my ability and the way I looked at the game. My character. What an opportunity we had. There were no guarantees of success but we wanted to give it a go and see what we could do.

"We had three months left of the 2010 season and won all the remaining games but we lost in the Scottish Cup semi-final to Ross County which was a shock defeat - we didn't really think we would land the job on a permanent basis.

"Peter Lawwell gave us the green light and it was fantastic to be back working with players with great ability. It was a great four years in management alongside Neil and it was an amazing experience.

"It is nice to say that I spent 10 years of my career - six as a player and four as an assistant manager - in Glasgow with Celtic."