The season is over.

The silverware has been collected. Now the predators must be repelled.

The success story of Celtic's campaign did not come in the form of the SPL championship, as Neil Lennon hoped, but in the Scottish Cup.

Even more so, it came in the form of Scottish football's player of the year, Emilio Izaguirre, and Israeli import Beram Kayal.

Gary Hooper also gave every indication he is a rough diamond who can be turned into a jewel in the crown.

But while this trio have drawn huge applause from Lennon and the Celtic support, they've also drawn admiring glances from clubs further afield.

The manager wants Izaguirre, Kayal and Hooper to form the foundation for the side he hopes will bring them greater glories for years to come.

But this squad remains a work in progress, as the activity in the transfer marker over the next few months will confirm.

While Lennon has no plans to repeat the costly exercise which saw him sign 15 players over the course of the last two windows, he does plan to be in there pitching for the three or four pieces of quality he believes his side needs to get to the next level.

That will take money, and previous incumbents of the Parkhead manager's office have discovered that the more you can bring in, the more you have to spend.

Lennon bankrolled his major shopping spree last summer through selling Aiden McGeady, Artur Boruc and Stephen McManus for a combined income of more than £14million.

Izaguirre, Kayal and Hooper might not attract quite that level of bids. But Lennon does not want to even try to put a value on any of them, even though he knows their sale would significantly bolster his spending power in this window.

"I don't think we need to really make the amount of changes we made last season," reasoned Lennon pragmatically as the celebrations from winning the cup subsided and he got down to looking at the next major challenge facing him.

"We are hoping that we can hold onto our better players.

"But, listen, every club is a selling club. Look at Manchester United selling Ronaldo.

"I'm not saying we are going to encourage bids for players.

"But if it makes good business sense, and it is good for the club and for what we want to achieve for next year, you never say never.

"But at the minute, I have no desire to sell any players."

Like any manager, Lennon is judged on the men he signs because, ultimately, they are men who must go and win the trophies.

Having to make such radical changes to the squad he inherited from Tony Mowbray meant Lennon was thrown into the deep when the transfer window opened last summer.

Now, a year down the line, he has the chance to assess how much bang he got for his buck.

When asked if he was content at his first dabble into the business of buying and selling, he replied confidently: "Yes, I am – and the majority of them we brought in have huge resale value as well, which is also important for the club."

He went on: "Every signing you make is a gamble, in some way. You really don't know the temperament of the player, whether they are going to be able to adapt into this environment.

"But, in the main, the players brought in have been fantastic."

Better still, Lennon predicts the supporters who took to them so quickly have only seen the tip of the iceberg in terms of what they can bring to the club.

With a year's more experience, the expectation is that they will be able to push on and avoid the pitfalls that caught them unawares this time around.

"You hope so," agreed Lennon. "And you hope that the feeling of Saturday, when they won a trophy, will stand them in good stead for next year.

"But there is never any guarantee of that.

"There will be huge expectation on them next season, and on my myself, and we will all have to cope with that."

The bonus for all concerned is that, despite such a short close-season to regroup and recharge, the quest to make amends for this season's European disappointment has been delayed until August 18.

There is no doubt any manager would like to ease themselves into a campaign, especially their first.

But Lennon was faced with a tricky trip to Braga for his first competitive game back in July, and was left with a bloody nose.

Insult was added to injury when his team dropped down to the Europa League and got taken apart in Utrecht.

Despite all that has filled his head and the headlines over the intervening months, the way Celtic crashed out of Europe before they got going still rankles with Lennon.

Already plans are being put into place to ensure there is no repeat, and the fact the SPL season will be well under way before they play the first leg of the final knockout round for the Europa League is welcomed.

Lennon said: "I think we have made dramatic improvement since we played Braga and Utrecht. Huge improvement, actually.

"Those players who were involved in the European experience for the four games should take a lot from that and say, 'Look, we have got to come back and do a lot, lot better.'

"They have had a year's bedding in, playing together under a lot of pressure, and they have coped with it very, very well."

Braga at least went on to reach the Europa League final, losing 1-0 to Porto in Dublin last week.

But Utrecht is a name which will be etched in Lennon's heart the same way Artmedia Bratislava will haunt Gordon Strachan for the rest of his days.

The 4-0 defeat in Holland after they had won the first leg 2-0 was the lowest point of Lennon's first year as boss, and he has vowed never to suffer such pain again.

He said: "We did not do ourselves justice on the day, in any department.

"We were poor. I felt we were as good if not better than Utrecht and we did not turn up on the night.

"I do not want that to happen again."