THE Lisbon Lions should be hidden from public view until the 40th anniversary of their European Cup win comes around next year. Because Celtic keep parading the eight remaining members of that exceptional team to the point where the lustre of their supreme achievement is being increasingly dulled.
The fuss around their appearance at last night's game against Benfica may have had some justification - the Stadium of Light being where Celtic snapped open Inter Milan's seemingly impregnable defence in May 1967 - but even Neil Lennon seemed a little bemused by the focus being taken off the current team's Champions' League efforts.
I've found it a little sad to see the Lions wheeled out time and again for trifling prize draws, like obscure soap stars opening village fetes. You suspect those who organise the Lions' repeated public appearances do so from a gimlet-eyed fixation with the international branding of Celtic plc, not genuine wonder that a team could win football's greatest club prize with a squad born entirely within a 30-mile radius.