Would Neil Lennon like to contribute to a video paying tribute to Barry Ferguson for receiving an MBE? As soon as he heard the details the idea appealed hugely to Lennon's sense of mischief.

While Ferguson was away on international duty in Ukraine, and unaware of what was going on at home, part of the video was to be filmed in the front room of his house. The camera would show a figure reclining on Ferguson's sofa with his face hidden as he read a copy of the Rangers captain's recent autobiography. The voiceover would say: "Here is the inspirational captain of one of Europe's biggest football clubs, a man idolised by thousands of supporters." Slowly the book would lower to reveal. . . Lennon. When it came to the filming Lennon added an extra touch by praising Ferguson's wife, Margaret, for making a nice cup of tea.

The tribute had Mr Celtic showing his appreciation for Mr Rangers. No other footballers in Scotland shoulder as much pressure and responsibility as Lennon and Ferguson, so it should not seem unusual that amid the real and perceived barriers of the Old Firm environment they have a shared empathy and respect. They rarely have the chance to meet socially and therefore cannot be described as friends, but there is a warmth and understanding between them.

Lennon's tribute was a reciprocation after Ferguson and Fernando Ricksen had made a similar video gesture for him at a function at Celtic Park.

"It shouldn't be surprising to anyone that me and Barry can get along off the field, " said Lennon with characteristic frankness ahead of today's Old Firm derby. "It would be hard for us to socialise because we wouldn't get a minute's peace, but more than anything else I have professional respect for him. He received an MBE, which is a tremendous accolade.

"I think we are very similar sorts of character and hold similar positions at our clubs.

We are the ones who are up there to be shot down. If anything goes wrong at Rangers Barry gets the blame for it, and it can be the same for me at Celtic. That is a big weight to carry and I respect what he does. I think it gives the fans someone they can look up to when they know that they have a passionate guy as the captain of their team. Barry is a very influential player and I like to think I am too. But you've got to be driven by results and winning trophies at the end of the day. If you're going to be a captain you should be a winning captain."

At about 11am today Lennon will stroll into Ferguson's other home, Ibrox Stadium. There will be no stealth or hiding involved this time. Lennon will milk it to maximise the fuss and attention as he walks into the ground. This will be his 31st Old Firm game . . . almost the equivalent of an entire SPL campaign of them . . . and on previous visits to Ibrox he has made a habit of being the last player off the Celtic bus, often quite a long way behind his teammates. He does it only out of sheer devilment and the knowledge it will whip up those Rangers supporters waiting to "welcome" Celtic at the stadium's front door.

"I'll probably do that again, maybe stay on the bus and wait until the boys get into the away dressing room so they can open the windows to hear the booing and abuse: 'Here he comes!' The derbies are a great day on the calendar, one of the games you really look forward to. Especially at Ibrox. I love going and playing there. It's a great stadium and the atmosphere is always white hot."

Lennon reigns as the undisputed public enemy number one for the Rangers support. Artur Boruc, Aiden McGeady and perhaps even Thomas Gravesen will have varying levels of verbal abuse to put up with today, but something newsworthy will have to happen during the game for Lennon to be displaced as the focus for the most vociferous hostility.

Players in his position usually boast they would not have it any other way. When Lennon says so, the accompanying grin is a guarantee of his authenticity. He revels in it.

Since signing from Leicester City six years ago he has immersed himself in Celtic and in Glasgow life, living in the city's West End despite the litany of incidents . . . some which made it to the courts or at least the newspapers . . .

which would have sent more timid souls scuttling off to quieter suburbs.

He has made himself an integral part of Old Firm history in the first decade of the 21st century, which is about all a Celtic or Rangers manager can hope for from any signing. "Glasgow is a very tough place to come and be successful, " he said. "I have seen a lot of reputations going down the drain up here. It can be the making or the breaking of you. I don't know if a lot of the current Rangers players have had time to settle yet. That's another thing about Glasgow, you don't get any time. You have to hit the ground running. Gordon [Strachan] had the same problem when he came in.

He was getting slaughtered after his first game and supposedly I was the worst captain since the Titanic. But we turned it around and now there is no reason why Rangers can't turn it around too. We don't want to give Rangers any encouragement at all because they are capable of putting a run together.

"But last year Alex McLeish said that if it hadn't been for their Champions League commitments Rangers would have given us a real run for our money in the SPL. So that speaks volumes for what we have done so far this season in the league and Europe. But we've not won anything yet."

It was argued in some quarters that Lennon should relinquish the captaincy or even be stripped of it for the fiery and physical altercations with Boruc and, in particular, McGeady when Celtic conceded a careless late goal in their 2-1 victory at Dunfermline on Sunday. It made for a good story, but the reaction within football was somewhat different. What manager did not envy Strachan for having such a driven and demanding force leading his team? Lennon was still in a spiky, unrepentant mood when I asked him to reflect on what happened.

"Boruc came running out at me, and I had nothing to do with it. So I said to Aiden and Willo [Mark Wilson] 'we've got to stop the f****** cross'.

Aiden's one of them sometimes, he can speak back. He just pushed me too far. I shouldn't have done it really, but f*** it, I was that incensed. I did quite well to just give him a push. I was raging with him.

"I should probably step back from getting involved with physical contact. But it annoys me. They are young lads and when I give them a bit of verbal I don't expect them to keep coming back with it. They should just accept it and get on with it because I would never have dreamt of doing it when I was a younger player. I just think they have to be brought into line a wee bit. I don't mind people speaking back to me but it depends on how it is put across. If someone is trying to be smart and cheeky about it. . .

"The manager backed me up. I wouldn't expect anything else from him. If I feel there is something has to be said or done I will do it, regardless of what criticism I get for it. I have always been vociferous, even before I was captain. It was the same whether it was with Henrik [Larsson], Chris [Sutton], Thommo [Alan Thompson] . . .

me and Thommo used to be at each other all the time, but it was only because we wanted each other to do better. I know people have said I should be stripped of the captaincy. Why? We have just won a title, we are in the last 16 in the Champions League and we are 16 points clear in the league. I must be doing something right.

"You always look for the perfect game. Even when you win by three or four you look for more. If I hit 99 really good passes I worry about the one I made a bollocks of.

That's just me. You always set yourself new goals. In the six years I've been here I've always had to prove something to somebody. Maybe that's just the chip on my shoulder, I don't know. But I know I can't please everybody all the time."

He is content to wait until the summer, when he will turn 36, to discover whether he has pleased Strachan enough to merit the offer of yet another one-year contract. Last summer he declined approaches from Leicester and Crystal Palace.

He was interested when Sunderland made an approach, but when Celtic refused them permission to speak to him he was happy to stay. "We just say to each other let's see how it goes. If both parties are happy we carry on. I am not going to go in and see the manager in January unless Celtic call my representatives in. Basically we have always left it until the summer. But I don't want my career to peter out here. I don't want to be sitting in the stands or have people saying 'there's old Lenny out there, bringing the water and the drinks out'. If I'm going to leave I'd want to leave as the captain and a winning one."

The prospect of an Old Firm icon's influence fading away would seem a little depressing were it not for the fact depression is not a term to use lightly about Lennon.

His recent autobiography Man and Bhoy revealed that since his days with Leicester he has suffered from periodic bouts of depression, for which he has to take a longterm course of tablets. That got him back on the front pages, naturally, but the coverage was sensitively handled and the reaction within football has been surprisingly mature. Rival supporters can be merciless but Lennon has not had to put up with any taunts.

"I was a bit worried about going public because it's such a personal issue but if you're going to do a book you might as well tell the whole truth. It wasn't a cry for help or an appeal for sympathy. It was to say that if people like me can get it, then anyone can. If you're successful, well off, talented, in the public eye blah blah blah that doesn't mean you're exempt from something like this. The letters I've received from sufferers have been brilliant. They were really pleased I came out and spoke up for it.

"It's easier for me now because I have experienced it before. I can prepare better for it because I see the signs and feel it coming on. It might last three or four weeks. You can get it and you just sink into your shell. Your selfesteem and confidence goes and you get anxious about the slightest wee thing. It can be a struggle just to get out of bed. "When you come out of it it's such a great feeling, a massive relief. You wake up in the morning and the cloud has gone. People asked me if I was worried about the stick I'd get by going public. Me worried about stick in Glasgow? For depression! That's the last of my worries.

"If people gave me stick only for that I could live with it all day long. What are they going to call me now? A depressive Fenian b******?"