Everyone at Celtic laughs about it now. It even became a gag at the end of last season when everything turned out just swell.
But it was nothing to chuckle about at the time. Especially for poor old Santa. Saint Nick copped it at Celtic Park when he made an appearance at half-time when the Hoops were 2-0 down to Hearts and on their way to a miserable festive defeat. It might have been a fairly trivial thing and a misplaced target of frustration. But it felt like a kind of key moment that could threaten to define an entire season and underline the bad feeling around the club.
Celtic was far from a happy place back then – unlike the tinsel covered place it is now. A year is a lifetime in football but there has been a massive turnaround in just about every department at Parkhead – which is why this is turning out to be a season to be jolly. Here we look at what’s changed since supporters got snide with Santa…
The boss
Brendan Rodgers admitted when he returned he had work to do to win back some of the fans with some bad blood remaining about his departure first time around. But he clearly had a tougher job on his hands than even he expected. He suffered from some post Ange angst in the stands, with plenty pinning for the departed Aussie.
The performances didn’t help either. Celtic went out of the League Cup at the first hurdle at Kilmarnock and lost there in the league too.
Home displays against St Johnstone and Motherwell were pretty grim and the loss to the Jambos saw patience snap. Celts were five points clear at the top but not firing and Rodgers even apologised after the Hearts defeat and made promises about signings in the January window.
Now? Brendan is box office and well and truly back in the good books. He recruited well in January, got the team firing and picked up a double with a spectacular run toward the end of the season. It’s rolled into this term and even gone up a notch. The boring build up play has been replaced by thrilling swashbuckling style. The trust in the gaffer is back.
The players
Rodgers had lost star turns like Jota and Carl Starfelt and the summer window was frankly a shambles. There was also the problem with Israeli winger Liel Abada stepping back amid strife in his homeland and Palestine protests in the stands.
Celtic brought in 11 players but only one – Luis Palma – started the Jambos game and he got hooked. Rodgers also had to rely on David Turnbull and Mikey Johnston, players who knew they were on the way out. The arrival of Adam Idah and Nicolas Kuhn in January helped, as was the players getting to grips with Rodgers’s demands.
A year on and the manager has the ‘quality’ he wanted. So much so he could make six changes from Europe and still stuff Ross County for five.
The board
It wasn’t just Santa who copped it a year ago. There were chants of ‘Sack the Board’ as chairman Peter Lawwell and chief exec Michael Nicholson found themselves in the firing line amid frustration the manager was not being properly backed in the transfer market despite record figures in the club’s accounts.
Fast forward a year and just look at last month’s jovial AGM to see how the stance has softened towards the board. The team is leading the charge but the club has £77m and broke their transfer record twice to land Idah and Arne Engels, while banking £25m plus for Matt O’Riley. Celtic fans will always demand more but there is an acceptance now the club is well run.
The atmosphere
It’s no exaggeration to say Parkhead was poisonous back then. It was the perfect storm with some resentment over Rodgers, frustration at perceived penny pinching and the running battles between the club and sections of the support like the Green Brigade ultras.
The Abada situation caused a major rift with Celtic chiefs furious at a banner celebrating the attacks on Israel and the constant stream of fines being handed down by UEFA for flags and fireworks.
Bad blood spilled over early on after the draw with St Johnstone and it rumbled over right through the festive period with the team even booed off after a win against Ross County in the January.
The Celtic Park mood has certainly lightened these days. The ground was at his ear-splitting best for the Champions League win against RB Leipzig and there is even more patience these days on the rare occasions when things are not quite happening. Rodgers’s name rings around the ground once more and it’s gone from being a house of pain to being a happy place again.
The rivals
A year ago Rangers were shown signs of a revival under Philippe Clement after a nightmare start saw Michael Beale pack his bags. Hearts were on the charge to third as well but it was the Ibrox men who were the danger.
The gap was five points after the Jambos loss but the Light Blues had a couple of games in hand with the Old Firm game on the horizon. The chat was the title race was back on and Celtic were in real jeopardy of leaving the door open for their rivals.
Now they are in danger of blowing them all away. Rangers are already in their slipstream 11 points back with Clement clinging on to his job. The Old Firm Premier Sports Cup Final is just over a week away and it will be huge with the most successful team in Scotland tag up for grabs with both clubs locked on 118 trophies.
Aberdeen have been the nearest challengers after a stunning start to the season. But the Dons have stumbled in recent weeks and Celtic have the chance to go seven points clear with a win at Pittodrie on Wednesday. Should the Hoops triumph, Santa might as well bring the Premiership trophy with him on this year’s visit to Parkhead.