SPL opener at Fir Park sees former striker Lehmann recall hitting the heights on and off the pitch

The finger was pointed at team-mate John Hughes, the joker in the Hibs pack, but even today the incident has the former Easter Road striker in stitches.

"Yes," he laughed, "It was totally true. I had this pair of shoes, quite expensive as they must have cost me 80 or 90, but Yogi thought they were horrendous.

"I'd gone for a shower after training and, when I came back, I couldn't move them because they'd been nailed to the floor. Of course, I knew right away who was reponsible. I had to throw the shoes out but it was funny, I still laugh about it today."

But, while Hughes was a larger-than-life character in a dressing-room which contained the likes of Franck Sauzee, Russell Latapy and Mixu Paatelainen, Lehmann also saw the big defender's serious side, the qualities which leave him unsurprised to see his former team-mate as the current boss of the Easter Road outfit.

He said: "Yogi was always a winner, he trained the same way he played. He wanted to win every single game whether it was on the training ground, the SPL or the Cups.

"He was a great enthusiast, hard worker and a big player in a team which had so many big players. But he also made guys like me coming to the club feel so welcome. The shoes thing was a big joke but at least it wasn't like Wimbledon where they'd burn each other's suits.

"Our manager Alex McLeish had this way of being able to get an extra five or ten per cent out of his players, to give them that belief and winning mentality which saw us finish third in my first season at Easter Road.

"At that time Rangers had guys like Gio van Bronckhurst, Jorg Albertz, Lorenzo Amoruso, Claudio Reyna and Andrei Kanchelskis while Celtic had Henrik Larsson, Stilian Petrov, Paul Lambert, Lubo Moravcik and Mark Viduka and yet we always gave them a very hard time.

"There was never a game we thought we didn't have a chance of winning. Yogi is exactly the same, you could see the young lads at the club at the time, Tam McManus, Kenny Miller and the likes go up to him seeking advice and, if he could give them that extra ten per cent, then it makes all the difference to you being a good player or not."

Memories of his days at Easter Road came flooding back for Lehmann as he contemplated the opening day of the new SPL season with Hibs facing Motherwell just as they did when he made his debut, the coincidence not ending there as the former Cologne, Energie Cottbus and Fulham star went on to play for the Steelmen.

Lehmann marked the start of his short career in a green-and-white shirt scoring twice but, he admitted, that delight was clouded by the fact Hibs only drew the game as Motherwell scored through Pat Nevin and, in the final minute, Stephen Nicholas.

He said: "Like any striker going to a new club you want to score goals so to score twice on my debut was great personally but not so good for the club because we wanted all three points but only drew. Andy Goram was in goal for Motherwell that day so it was good to put two past him,"

To that extent, Lehmann admitted he could empathise with Hibs striker Colin Nish, scorer of a hat-trick on Hibs' last visit to Fir Park only for the match to end in that astonishing 6-6 draw, the highest-ever scoring game in the history of the SPL. He said: "I have a friend in Hamilton who told me the result of that match, which was unbelievable. Having been so disappointed to score two and not win I can really sympathise with Nish, to get three and only get a draw must have been so hard to take for him."

Now 39 and still playing for German semi-professional outfit Borussia Freialdenhoven, Lehmann revealed he takes great delight at seeing his younger team-mates discovering he really was a bit of a player as they watch clips of his goals on the internet.

He said: "I haven't told them anything of my previous career but I've found them looking at some of my goals on YouTube.

"It's good to see them again but the highlight of my time in Scotland must be the opening goal in the millennium derby at Tynecastle against another very good goalkeeper Antti Niemi. I love seeing that goal again but the whole day was memorable, to go across the city and win so well against your biggest rivals in such a game - big Franck and young Kenny got the other goals - was just a fantastic feeling."

While revelling in his memories of Easter Road, Lehamm admitted his emotions will be a touch mixed as he awaits the outcome of Sunday's match, a brief spell with Brighton ending as he returned north to join Motherwell where, despite the club crashing into administration, he enjoyed his football.

He said: "I'd had a great time in Edinburgh, a fantastic city, a great club and supporters who were great towards me.

"It was a hard time at Motherwell after the club had gone into administration.

"Scott Leitch and I were kept on to help the young lads along.

"We had kids like James McFadden and Stephen Pearson in the side, really good players, but so young. They had such a lot to learn and, while we could give any team a hard time over the course of one game, to do so in more than 30 matches over the course of a season was so tough. But, as in Edinburgh, I enjoyed my time at Fir Park."

A year in Japan with Yokohama followed before Lehmann returned to Germany where he retains all his enthusiasm for the game, if not quite all those famed earrings, replying: "Of course, but just one in each ear now," when asked.

Today Lehmann is assistant coach/player alongside former German internationalist Willie Hannes, who twice won the Bundesliga with Borussia Munchengladbach as well as the UEFA Cup, resisting offers to hang up his boots to take over on the touchline.

Speaking to the Evening News following a day coaching youngsters at a training camp in Luxembourg, Lehmann said: "I'm no longer a striker, Hibs fans may remember me playing a few games at centre-half and now I am a defensive midfielder although I still enjoy getting a goal.

"I am still playing because I love playing. I'm still fit, we train three or four times a week and then have a game at the weekend. I can't do without my football and, as long as I can play without making a fool of myself, then I'll play on. I'd bet there's a few of my former team-mates would love to still be playing today. I've had a few offers in Germany to be just a coach but I do not feel I am ready to give up playing just yet and I don't think you can do both.

"I'm sure Yogi found it the same, you just can't follow what is happening on the pitch if you are trying to do both jobs. But as a player I can still give the young boys some advice. Perhaps this might be my last year but I've enjoyed pre-season and scored a few goals."

Lehmann's own playing commitments have prevented him returning to Scotland in recent years but he is well aware of the massive strides Hibs have taken in the intervening time with their 5 million training centre and now the new East Stand about to open. He said: "Hibs have always produced their own young players and I remember all the guys who were just kids when I was there who have gone on to make such a mark so the training ground - which is a million miles away from Wardie where we trained - can only help continue that tradition.

"The new Main Stand opened when I was at Hibs so the ground must look absolutely fantastic now it has been finished. I promise I'll get over some time and see it all."