LIAM BRADY, Lou Macari, Tommy Burns, Wim Jansen, Jo Venglos, John Barnes, Kenny Dalglish (caretaker), Martin O’Neill, Gordon Strachan, Tony Mowbray, Neil Lennon (two stints), Ronny Deila and Ange Postecoglou.
It’s a fair old roll call, isn’t it? A list of Celtic managers since the team had last suffered defeat against Dundee at Dens Park until Sunday.
Billy McNeill was the Hoops boss back on the fateful Saturday afternoon of September 24 1988 when future Celt Tommy Coyne scored the only goal in the Tayside encounter.
Since then, the team had remained impregnable in 37 visits to the City of Discovery – until Brendan Rodgers’ bunglers stepped onto thin ice on Tayside at the weekend and disappeared from view before the half-time whistle.
It must have been a fairly humiliating reverse for the Irishman against a team hovering perilously close to the relegation trapdoor and managed by Steven Pressley who had just returned to the dug-out at the start of the season after being sacked by English fourth-tier Carlisle United in November 2019.
LOOKING DOWN…Brendan Rodgers after the 2-0 loss against Dundee at Dens Park.
If there is any consolation for Rodgers, he can at least say he is in good company alongside Celtic legend McNeill.
It’s a monumental understatement to say there is disharmony and discord around the place at the moment, but I think we are united in agreeing that what we are witnessing from the current Celtic team is utterly unacceptable.
Hostility hangs heavily in the air above the east end of Glasgow, there is much bickering about the board, visible rage from frustrated fans and dire performances from a squad of players who are sleepwalking through football’s many minefields.
Understandably, there is much attention being paid to the here and now. Some observers are puzzled and perplexed at the current state of affairs.
No-one should be mystified. We were all well warned. This has been coming since 48 hours into 2025.
At the turn of the year, Rodgers’ side were 14 points ahead in their pursuit of their fourth successive title. They couldn’t possibly blow their opportunity of winning the club’s 55th crown.
Judging by a lame and submissive show at Ibrox on January 2, they gave the impression they were doing their damndest to inject some drama into proceedings after allowing Philippe Clement’s side to canter to a 3-0 win.
A mere hiccup? A stumble on the marathon route that leads to the big prize?
CELTIC CONQUEROR…Dundee boss Steven Pressley.
Thirteen days later, there was a dismal 3-3 draw at Dens Park – clearly not one of Brendan’s favourite venues – and a 2-1 loss to Hibs at Easter Road the following month. It didn’t get much better in March when Wee Barry, taking temporary charge after Clement’s dismissal, outfoxed Brendan to lead the Govan club to a rare 3-2 success in the east end of Glasgow.
And just when you thought you had suffered enough grief, the Hoops somehow engineered an inexplicable 1-0 loss at McDiarmid Park to St Johnstone who were, of course, relegated a month later.
Wee Barry proved to be an insurmountable barrier for the Celtic manager and the Glasgow derby ended in a 1-1 stalemate at Ibrox near the beginning of May.
The alarm bells were ringing loud and clear when it required a stoppage-time equaliser from James Forrest against St Mirren to prevent the champions bringing down the curtain on the league campaign with a defeat.
The angst continued in the Scottish Cup Final when the holders, with EIGHTY-TWO per cent of possession, gift-wrapped the trophy and passed it onto an extremely grateful Aberdeen.
The Dons very kindly gave Rodgers’ side the lead with an own goal, but, matching the generosity displayed by the opponents, a horrible piece of goalkeeping from the normally-reliable Kasper Schmeichel allowed Jimmy Thelin’s team to level late in the game.
There was no further scoring in extra-time and two dreadful penalty-kicks from skipper Callum McGregor and Alistair Johnston saw red-and-white ribbons bedecking the ancient piece of silverware as it headed to the north-east.
TWO IN A WOE…Scottish Cup Final penalty-kick culprits Callum McGregor and Alistair Johnston console each other at Hampden.
We cannot forget the heroics of the players earlier in the year when they came within a minute of forcing extra-time in the Allianz Arena with Bayern Munich in the second leg of their Champions League play-off.
The damage, of course, had been done in the first leg when some amateur defending at a left-wing corner kick allowed Harry Kane – of all people! – the freedom of the city to volley in the killer second goal.
The Celtic players deserve all the credit in the world for pulling it back to 2-2 on aggregate courtesy of Nicolas Kuhn’s slick effort, but their courage and spirit went unrewarded when a clearance from Cameron Carter-Vickers cannoned off Alphonso Davies at the far post and ricocheted past the helpless Schmeichel.
Rodgers has used that performance as some sort of benchmark to emphasise what Celtic could achieve among the elite if the board backed his ambition with hard cash.
I have absolutely no intention of taking any kudos away from the manager or his players that evening in Bavaria, but it may be worth looking at what happened to Kane and Co at the same venue in the first leg of their quarter-final.
They lost 2-1 to Inter Milan, drew 2-2 at the San Siro and joined Celtic among the also-rans. That’s the same Inter Milan team that were annihilated 5-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in the showpiece final.
HAIL THE HAMPDEN HEROES…Kasper Schmeichel and Daizen Maeda celebrate the Japanese ace’s decisive penalty-kick in the Premier Sports League Cup Final spot-kick win over Philippe Clement’s Ibrox side in mid-December. Adam Idah and Cameron Carter-Vickers prepare to join the party.
That may put a slightly different complexion on the overall picture of the team’s achievements for season 2024/25. The Premier Sports League Cup was claimed following a fightback and then an almighty wobble against the doomed Clement and his Govan club.
After leading 3-2 with the clock ticking down, the defence fell asleep when Vaclav Cerny – remember that little squirt? – pitched in a ball from the right and Brazilian Danilo was gifted space right in front of Schmeichel, who remained rooted to his line, to thump in the equaliser.
The Dane atoned with a sprawling save to deny Ridvan Yilmaz in the resultant pemalty-kick shoot-out and Daizen Maeda made an impeccable job with the decisive kick.
The game at Hampden was played on December 15 2024. Eighteen days later, the hosts scored another three goals in the derby affair in Govan and, alas, there wasn’t a solitary reply from powderpuff opponents.
Thankfully, Celtic’s spilled points didn’t prevent them from lifting the Championship with a 17-point advantage over hapless and spent opponents who contrived to lose seven and draw nine of their 38 league games.
The glare from the silverware, the club’s 43rd honour of the 21st Century, may well have blurred the vision of what we witnessed last season.
The alarm bells have been ringing since the faint echoes of the chimes of Hogmanay faded into history.
TAYSIDE TORMENT…Arne Engels cuts a frustrated figure as he walks off the Dens Park pitch following his cameo performance in the 2-0 loss to Dundee. Johnny Kenny and Kieran Tierney acknowledge the fans.
And here we are today, dear reader. Brendan is talking about being given the keys to a Honda Civic and be expected to drive it like a Ferrari.
That sounded like a rehearsed line. If so, it was ill-conceived, badly-timed and waywardly delivered.
Rodgers utilised over £30million worth of talent – eight of them brought to the club by the Irishman – against Dundee who won’t be able to spend that sort of money in decades. Arne Engels, the club’s record £11million purchase, remained on the substitutes’ bench until the 82nd minute.
Celtic have fired blanks on six occasions and have claimed a mere 11 goals in eight league games. Four teams have collected more – Hearts (19), Hibs and Dundee United (both 14) and Motherwell (12).
Rock-bottom Livingston have scored 10, one fewer than the champions.
Brendan has utilised The Bumper Book of Football Excuses on numerous occasions in recent months. It’s all beginning to sound a little hollow.
I’ve been a supporter of the Irishman since day one. Back in August, as Rodgers went into the third and final term of his three-year contract and Celtic prepared to launch into a new crusade, there was a clamour from many for the manager to extend his stay.
I wonder how many of those followers feel the same way today.
ALEX GORDON
