GAVIN Strachan was in the Main Stand at Celtic Park on the night Shunsuke Nakamura produced a world-class free-kick to sink Manchester United in the Champions League, which sent the Hoops fans into raptures.

He witnessed first-hand just how special Paradise can be on such occasions, so the prospect of being in the home dugout to experience future magical moments was one that he was never going to turn down.

Celtic’s new first-team coach left a job he was enjoying at Peterborough United, where he was assistant manager, but he knew it would be something he would regret for the rest of his career if he turned down the Scottish champions.

It’s been, by his own admission, a whirlwind 10 days since he was announced as the latest addition to Neil Lennon’s coaching team, but it’s also been an enjoyable time as he’s immediately got to work on the Lennoxtown training pitches with the Celtic players.

“Everyone’s made me feel so welcome – the players and the staff,” he admitted. “They’ve integrated me really well, and this stage, the way we’ve been working, I feel really comfortable and I feel that I’ve been here a lot longer than I actually have.

“I loved it at Peterborough, and I think if a Championship club had come in for me, I loved my work at Peterborough so much I don’t think I would have gone.

“But it’s just the size of Celtic and having been here on some special night and knowing what it means to people, the opportunity to come and work at a club like this doesn’t come around often, and I’d be kicking myself for the rest of my career if I didn’t have a go at it.

“I was here the night Nakamura scored the free-kick against Man United, and just the feeling of the place. I was up in the stand for that, but the opportunity and the chance to maybe being down on the bench when stuff like that is going on is really exciting and a massive motivator.”

The Celtic first-team coach has been impressed by Neil Lennon’s squad, even in the short time that he has been working with them, as well as the work that’s already been done in preparation for the momentous season ahead.

And he welcomed Wednesday’s announcement that Mohamed Elyounoussi has returned to the club for another season-long loan from Southampton.

“What I’ve seen is that there’s such a culture here of winning, and that’s ingrained into the players,” Strachan said. “It seems to me that they deal with that pressure really well, and from my point of view, it’s a challenge you can either shy away from or you can embrace it, so I’ve gone for the latter.

“The more I get to know the players, the more I get to know what makes them tick. There’s a fantastic nucleus to the squad. Within it, there’s ability, work-rate, determination, team work, and even working with Moi Elyounoussi over the past few days, you can see that he’s really bought in to the culture of what we’re trying to do here, and he’s another fantastic edition.”

Gavin Strachan: I want to experience Paradise magic as a coach