SAINTS legend Rickie Lambert is now enjoying his retirement, but has one eye on doing his coaching badges and wouldn’t rule out a return to St Mary’s one day – but not as a player.

The 35-year-old hung up his boot in October as a persistent lower back issue forced one of the club’s greatest goal-scorers of all time out the game.

Lambert netted 117 goals in 235 appearances for Saints in a truly amazing five years at St Mary’s, which included firing the club from League One to the Premier League in double promotions.

Now, after putting his feet up for a few weeks and enjoying time with his family, Lambert’s thoughts have turned to what comes next.

Of course, a return to Saints in some capacity has crossed his mind, but he’s in no rush to anything right now.

“In the future if I can come back and have some part to play in any kind of role to help the Saints then, yes, I would,” he said. “Obviously it won’t be playing and it probably won’t be coaching either, not for the foreseeable future anyway.

“Perhaps I’ll come back in some other aspect. I’d more than happily do that. But at the minute, I don’t want to tie myself down to anything.

“I’m just enjoying being with the kids and family.”

It was Alan Pardew who brought Lambert to St Mary’s, spending a bargain £1m on the striker in August 2009 to bring him from Bristol Rovers.

He became a hero at Saints and left an icon in 2014, sealing a move to Liverpool, the club he’d supported all his life.

Lambert, who later played for West Bromwich Albion and Cardiff before ending his career, has a true affinity with Saints and undoubtedly his popularity at St Mary’s is still huge.

“The relationship with the fans is the highlight of my career,” he said. “It was a brilliant time and every time I come back I can feel the appreciation.

“Who knows what the future holds. I have not got a clue.

“I’ve been told what to do my whole life and now to have no one tell me what to do. I’m enjoying it.”

Lambert, the man who will be remembered nationally for scoring with his first touch on his England debut against Scotland in August 2013 at Wembley, is now having some deserved down time.

He said: “It’s been a few months now [since playing]. Time is going pretty fast. I’ve got no pressure to do anything. I’m just playing with the kids and looking forward to Christmas.

“After Christmas I might start to get back into shape a little bit – I’ve eaten and drunken probably a little bit too much than I should have but that’s what I wanted to do, retire and enjoy myself.”

He continued: “After Christmas I am going to do my badges. But I’ve got no immediate plans to go straight into coaching, to be honest. It’s not something that appeals to me straight away.

“I might do a bit more media and come and watch the Saints a bit more.

“Long-term, I’ve no plans. I might take a course in something else I haven’t done before, something I’ve never done.

“I’ll have to think about it, but right now I’ve got no ideas.”