Celtic have been on quite the ride since Brendan Rodgers returned to the club last summer.
Everyone was gutted when Ange Postecoglou left Celtic, but the lure of the Premier League came calling and he headed towards Tottenham.
Postecoglou had done wonders at Parkhead because, not only did he bring back the trophies after that woeful season under Neil Lennon, but he did it by playing a seriously entertaining brand of football.
That’s why many were eager to see who Celtic would turn to next and Rodgers surprisingly came back after that infamous call to head to Leicester City in 2019.
The trophies were delivered by the Irishman, including that incredible Scottish Cup final win over Rangers, but the ride was a little rocky along the way.
This time last year, the Bhoys were losing at home to Hearts and there were chants of ‘sack the board’ coming from the home fans.
Chris Sutton defended then-transfer chief Mark Lawwell, with supporters unhappy with recruitment and Dermot Desmond also taking flak.
The majority shareholder was brought up in an interesting conversation between Gordon Strachan and Craig Levein.
Gordon Strachan says Celtic fans have gone quiet over Dermot Desmond being ‘useless’
Levein was recently sacked by St Johnstone and lasted less than a year in the job, with the 60-year-old ranting about the time managers get in the game today.
He moaned about ‘how can you build a team in ten months’ and spoke about clubs going from young managers to experienced coaches like a knife through butter.
But Strachan made it clear to Levein that ‘nobody is going to give you time anymore’ and how it’s just about beating your rivals.
He touched upon Celtic’s situation last season and how fans seemingly felt Desmond was ‘useless’, but with the team winning on the pitch now, all of that has gone quiet, as he told The Warm-Up.
Levein frustratingly expressed “If you have a manager who is unsuccessful and he is an older manager, a likelihood is that you will go and get a younger manager. You look at the patterns in this. Then, the younger one doesn’t do well and you go back and get an older one. Someone more experienced. You think you need the opposite of what you have just got rid of. My point is, how can you build a team in ten months?! How can you? You have got two (transfer) windows. How can you build a team in ten months?!”
Then Strachan responded in a blunt fashion: “Nobody is going to give you that time anymore. We just want to win. Hibs fans and Hearts fans. They just want to be better than the other ones.
“Everybody pontificates about what they want to see, the football, this and that. No, they don’t. Hibs fans just want to beat Hearts. That’s it. Rangers fans just want to Celtic. Forget Europe, forget anything else, forget the money and forget whatever you are talking about. They just want to beat Celtic. That would keep them happy. It’s the same with the Celtic board. The Celtic board are useless. He’s useless. Dermot (Desmond’s) useless. Dadada… That’s when they get beat by some rubbish. Not heard a thing about that in the last year and a half.”
What has Desmond said about Celtic’s start this season?
Celtic are flying high in the Premiership and showing serious life that they will reach the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Those signings, such as Nicolas Kuhn, are now coming to the fore and the club’s recruitment is singing and dancing like never before.
Amid Celtic’s strong start to the season, Desmond expressed his delight at what he has been seeing, as he told BBC Sport in October.
“I am very pleased,” said Desmond. “I think we have played good football. We had a good start and could have played bad football, but we have played very good and exciting football. Unfortunately, we weren’t at our best on Tuesday, but I like what we are doing, what Brendan is doing and I think we have a good squad.”
“I would like to see some good results, home results and maybe nick a point or two away. I think we have done exceptionally well so far. It’s interesting to play eight different teams, four at home and four away with all different rankings.
“I think it makes it exciting for the club, the supporters and people generally.
