Strachan spent just over three seasons in charge of Coventry and another three at Southampton - but at Parkhead it's different.
He explained to the Sunday Mail: "I've spoken about a three-year cycle before but I was referring to the English Premiership. I said at the A-licence coaching course that there's a kind of three-year cycle. Graeme Souness and Peter Reid both said I was right. Unless you are at the top four or five clubs where you can really get a dynasty going it's hard work after three years to keep it going."
Strachan, who quit Southampton after three years, learned his lesson the hard way at Coventry when he was axed two months into his fourth season in charge.
He said: "Look at Coventry, if I had left after three seasons I'd have said, 'Christ, what a good job that was' but you have to plod on. It's different in Scotland. It's been proven that you can get a dynasty going at Celtic but I am not sure whether I will do it or not. It would be lovely but you just set targets for next year and see how it goes."
Pre-season is a busy time for any manager but for Strachan it's all about getting on the training field - and he loves the fact he can leave a lot of the other business in the hands of guys he trusts.
He said: "John Park, Ray Clarke and Tom O'Neill do a lot for us and then you have your own contacts and friends throughout Europe who say, 'Have a look at this one'. Then you get the videos in, it is a hell of a process. Then you ask people.
"Like with Donati, you ask Leonardo, who I knew from the BBC. 'What do you think?' What type of lad is he? and they might say, 'Oh great, fantastic'. In France, you phone Gerard Houllier, so you've got these kind of contacts. Or you say, 'Listen I'm looking for this, this and this' and you ask your own guys.
"It's fantastic that they do the groundwork. You've got to trust people as well. You've always got a problem as the Celtic and Rangers manager that getting anywhere is two planes. In England you go to Heathrow and it's one flight. Here you can be away for a few days to watch a player who might only play 30 minutes.
"Two or three days away from your players, you just can't do it.
"I only enjoy working on the training field. The rest of it, no.
"The training field is great but my time on it is getting shorter and shorter so you must cram all the information you want to pass to the players and get them fit at the same time.
"You have to try to merge coaching with stamina work and so far we have come up with some decent ideas on how to do it. We are putting a lot of things together and we're watching how the players respond.
"We think we've got a strong squad and players will just have to force me to pick them. Tommy Burns was asking me today, 'What's your ideal 11?' and I said, 'Tommy catch a grip of yourself, we've permutations everywhere!"
