STUART McCall can only smile as he digests the fact, with the departure of Neil Lennon, he is now the longest-serving manager in Scotland's top division.

But, he finds it harder to digest that some people may not fancy becoming the next boss of Celtic because the SPFL Premiership is considered so uncompetitive.

Having successfully rebuilt again last summer and dragged Motherwell into another second-place finish - albeit 29 points behind Celtic - McCall finds that a bit rich.

Sure, he knows the advantages enjoyed by Celtic mean they are nailed-on title winners before a ball is kicked.

But, that does not mean the rest simply roll over and hand them the points.

And, McCall is convinced whoever does accept the challenge of replacing Lennon will be stepping into a seriously significant position within the game.

In his role as coach with Scotland, McCall has been able to gauge the stunned reaction of Celtic trio Scott Brown, Charlie Mulgrew and Leigh Griffiths - and the rest of the national squad - to the news Lennon had called time at Parkhead.

But, the Well boss is every bit as intrigued to discover who he will be pitting his wits against next season.

He said: "The people mentioned for the Celtic job are top, top candidates.

"I was a littler bit surprised when I heard Neil had gone, though I suppose there is always a time when people have to move on.

"I take people how I find them, and Neil was always very complimentary about Motherwell and our staff.

"He always showed us a good deal of respect.

"But who is going to come in? Is it going to be a Neil type again, like Roy Keane?"

McCall continued: "It's a huge job.

"To go in and test yourself in the European arena, with the opportunity of not only winning the league, but adding cups as well.

"It's still a very, very attractive job. And I'm sure they'll get someone of a very high calibre."

McCall promises the new man a warm welcome, but accepts the challenge facing the other clubs will remain the same.

"There's a point where everyone knows something would have to go massively wrong for them not to win the league," he said.

"But, we do the best we can in our games against them."

Only Aberdeen managed to inflict a defeat on Lennon's side in the title race last term, and McCall respects how focused the Northern Irishman had been in his final trophy run, much to Motherwell's chagrin.

He reflected: "At Christmas, if they'd had the same record as they'd had the previous Christmas, we would have been a point ahead of them because we won four games more than we did to that stage last year."

All of which is the subject of friendly fire between McCall and the Celtic contingent in the Scotland squad for tomorrow's game against Nigeria.

The coach is delighted with the application being shown by everyone and said: "It's been a little while since most of the lads had a game, and you are wondering what they are going to be like.

"But, they were all fantastic in training yesterday.

"A few of them have flown back from their holidays to be here, which is what you would expect because you should want to play for your country.

"It's our last game before the qualifiers, and we have mentioned that to them.

"As always, the gaffer has a few little different things he is introducing in the way he wants us to play.

"So, it is never anything other than very important whenever the squad gets together."