Eighteen years ago today Celtic were beating Dundee 3-0 at Dens Park in the midst of a snow storm. Off the park things weren’t any quieter.
After that defeat from Inverness Caley Thistle Director of Football Kenny Dalglish had been summoned from La Manga to switch his gold clubs for the managers jacket.
It was quite clear that Dalglish was only in charge on a caretaker basis as the club that had recently had Tommy Burns, Wim Jansen and Jo Venglos in charge reacted to the mid-season departure of John Barnes.
On this day in 2000, Celtic beat Dundee 3-0 thanks to goals from Mjallby, Viduka and Healy. pic.twitter.com/jKmjZNSiwE
— CelticLisboa (@CelticLisboa) February 12, 2018
While the media portrayed the departure of Barnes as the end of a dream most fans were relaxed about it and had seen the writing on the wall from a distance for the tactical dreamer.
The fans gave the team great backing at Dundee, no one could have guessed that Martin O’Neill was about to transform every aspect of the club before the year was out.
Only Jackie McNamara and Johan Mjallby survived to reach Seville but a look through the team-sheet reveals a hard core of talent and ability- plus a few randoms that hardly made a mark.