The stock of Northern Irish football managers has never been higher.
And two of the best will come up against each other at McDiarmid Park on Saturday.
Tommy Wright described Celtic’s recruitment of fellow countryman Brendan Rodgers as a “massive coup.”
But the St Johnstone boss will be doing his best to make sure that he is the only unbeaten Ulsterman in the Premiership after their lunchtime clash at the weekend.
“My paths didn’t really cross with Brendan much,” Wright said. “Although I spoke to him when I was at Norwich and he was with Watford.
“We had a few conversations when he was Liverpool manager as well.
“He’s done remarkably well and is regarded as one of the top coaches in the country.
“So it’s a massive coup for Celtic and Scottish football to bring him here.
“It’s good to have another Northern Irish manager around the place because we’ve got Neil Lennon back in the country as well.
“I think Brendan did his coaching badges in England, Lenny and I did ours with the IFA and Michael O’Neill did his in Scotland.
“It’s a decent time for Northern Irish managers, maybe it’s the trend at the moment like it was with Scottish managers a few years back.
“It’s always good to see people from your country do well – although in Brendan’s case I hope he doesn’t do too well this weekend.”
Celtic’s game against Saints will be sandwiched between Champions League qualifiers for the Parkhead club.
Whether that affects Rodgers’ team selection remains to be seen but for the home side, there are no competing priorities.
“It’s good to have a week to prepare for the Celtic game and it’s one we’re really looking forward to,” Wright said.
“They have added some real quality to their team, they have a lot of pace and they have a buzz around them at the moment because of Brendan going in there.
“He’s strengthened them a bit already so it’s going to be a tough task, but that’s something we enjoy.
“We have got good results against the big teams in the past and we’re hoping this weekend might be one of those occasions we do it again.
“But there’s no doubt it will be difficult because Brendan has made his mark pretty quickly.
“He’s a top manager, he’s assessed the players he inherited and has brought quality like Scott Sinclair, Dembele and Kolo Toure in.
“They will have come up here from England desperate to make an impact.
“He’s also getting the best out of the likes of James Forrest so they’re in good form.
“But we’re happy with the way we’ve started and hopefully we’ll be able to give them plenty to think about.”
