The Bad: Shakthar Donetsk, Champions League, October 2004.
Just a few months after that spectacular night we were to suffer a calamitous defeat in the Ukraine, on my birthday of all days. I remember that night clearly. We had played well enough in the first half, and might even have taken the lead ourselves, but it was an atrocious second half performance, made worse by two injuries – to Jackie McNamara and big Chris. It virtually guaranteed our elimination from Europe at the Champions League group stages.
In the aftermath, the first signs of tension between Martin and the board; he complained about the “threadbare” nature of our squad and seemed to be hinting at the need to spend more money. If reports later on are to be believed he picked the worst possible time to do that; according to some, Brian Quinn and the Celtic board were locked in talks after that game about the spiralling deficit we had racked up on his watch.
The decision they made that night – that the wage bill would have to be reduced – were to lead to some radical cost cutting under Gordon Strachan … who actually found a way to do more with less, achieving twice what Martin didn’t … getting to the knockout phase of the Champions League.
But that was in the future.
That night was an epic headache and the first major sign that all was not well inside Celtic Park.