Tom Boyd was part of the Celtic dressing room which produced instant results under Martin O'Neill - but he has warned it might take Brendan Rodgers longer to make his mark at Parkhead.
The former Hoops captain has been impressed by the ambition shown by majority shareholder Dermot Desmond after he persuaded former Liverpool boss Rodgers to kick-start his managerial career in Scotland.
The appointment has gone down well with supporters too, with the queues of excited fans looking to buy season-tickets stretching into the hundreds when they went on public sale earlier this week.
That air of optimism had Boyd's mind wandering back to the early part of the century when O'Neill arrived in Glasgow's east end and immediately set about filling the Celtic Park trophy cabinet with silverware.
But retired defender Boyd, 50, knows Rodgers is unlikely to have the riches that were made available to his compatriot O'Neill when he took charge back in 2000.
The former Leicester manager was able to splash out as much as £6million on striker Chris Sutton while Joos Valgaeren, Alan Thompson, Neil Lennon and John Hartson were also signed for big money during his five-year stint in charge.
Boyd - speaking as he helped promote the annual Celtic Foundation Golf Day at Renfrew Golf Club on June 23 - said: "Brendan's arrival has rekindled the fires of so many supporters. This optimism is something I didn't think I'd see but that shows you the board have certainly made the right choice.
"The supporters are loving it. They are really looking forward to the season. We've not had this level of enthusiasm at the start of the season since Martin came in.
"Hopefully we'll have the same kind of feelings come the end of the season like we did back then.
"Back then, the impact Martin had was instant. But he was afforded the chance to bring in players of the highest quality from down south. Guys like Chris Sutton were championship winners in England.
"Do the fans need to be more patient this time? Only time will tell on that. It all depends on the reaction the manager gets from the players. Will they respond to the challenge of playing for a new manager and the fresh opportunities?
"I'm a supporter like everybody else and we all want it to be like the Martin O'Neill years. We want instant success. But it is for Brendan to work out who will come and go and we will leave it to him to decide."
Rodgers' first job is to trim down the bloated squad left behind by Ronny Deila.
The likes of Carlton Cole, Colin Kazim-Richards and Stefan Scepovic are already inching their way towards the Parkhead exit, while new Rotherham boss Alan Stubbs is keen to reunite himself with Anthony S tokes after their successful stint together at Hibs.
But Boyd believes those who remain should grasp the opportunity to re-ignite their Celtic careers just like his old team-mate Bobby Petta did under O'Neill.
The Dutchman was branded a flop after being signed by John Barnes but became a crucial member of the Celtic line-up after the Northern Irishman took charge.
"I think we've got rid of Carlton Cole while Kazim-Richards is also in the process of leaving," said Boyd. "There will be others, that is without question.
"He might decide to give some of these guys a chance.
"We've seen the impact a change of manager can make on a player. I think back to Martin's time and in particular the reaction he got from Bobby Petta. The new manager gave him confidence and it transformed him.
"I'm sure Brendan will also be able to unearth a few gems. Some of the best players we've had at this football club have been brought in by managers who knew of them when few others did.
"The best examples of that were Henrik Larsson and Lubo Moravcik, so I would hope Brendan would have quite a few like that who he could bring in to enhance the squad."
Meanwhile, Celtic have confirmed they re heading to Slovenia for 10-day pre-season workout, with Rodgers team set to warm-up for the new campaign with friendly games against NK Celje (June 30), Strum Graz (July 3), Olimpija Ljubljana (July 6) and NK Maribor (July 9).
Source: PA
