Murdo MacLeod: Celtic must not take their eye off the ball – I learned that lesson 20 years ago

AROUND this time 20 years ago, Rangers were being tipped to canter to another title and Celtic were said to be in disarray.

If public opinion, and the bookies, had been proved to be correct, the Light Blues would have secured a record-breaking 10-in-a-row.

Murdo MacLeod remembers it well – and can recall only too clearly how all pre-season predictions went out of the window.

He was No.2 to the newly-appointed Celtic manager, Wim Jansen, and they were in the process of losing two of their best talents from the squad, Paolo di Canio and Jorge Cadete.

Across the city, Walter Smith had a settled squad and they went into the season as overwhelming favourites to win another title.

But Celtic had other ideas and pipped their greatest rivals to the title by just two points.

Roll on to today, and the roles have somewhat reversed.

Brendan Rodgers led the Hoops to runaway success last season, and Rangers have appointed Portuguese coach, Pedro Caixinha, to stop him.

The smart money is on Celtic continuing to dominate in the months ahead, but MacLeod knows never to take anything for granted, no matter how wide the gap may appear to be.

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MacLeod told The Sunday Post: “Some fans say to me that they think that title victory in 1998 was the most important in Celtic’s history as it stopped Rangers from beating the record.

“I’m not going to argue with that assessment.

“It makes me proud to know the people from 20 years ago, in a strange kind of way, are playing a small, small part in what is going on at the club.

“Many people believe that Celtic are on their way to winning 10-in-a-row to beat the current record. Had Rangers won in 1998, then Celtic would need to do 11-in-a-row.

“But the people now in charge at Celtic Park must not take their eye off the ball.

“Brendan Rodgers won’t need to be told about the dangers involved if complacency sets in. He will have the players focused from week to week, and he will not allow anyone to look too far ahead.

“As I know from season 1997-98, things can change very quickly in football. That’s why Rangers will know not to give up, and have to believe that they will be able to be successful this season.

“Pedro Caixinha has added eight or nine players this summer and wants another two in. Any neutral would say that Rangers are a distance behind Celtic as things stand at this minute.

“However, they must go into this campaign with a determination to win the league.

“Yes, the odds are stacked against them but they have brought in Graham Dorrans and Bruno Alves. They are not making that kind of investment just to be happy at finishing 10 or 15 points behind Celtic and to see them cruising to another title to make it seven-in-a-row.

“I’m sure an interesting domestic season lies ahead and I hope we have a title race to remember.”

It was certainly all of that 20 years ago.

What made Celtic’s success that season all the more remarkable was that there was unrest behind the scenes.

Chief Scout Davie Hay parted company with the club after disagreements with General Manager, Jock Brown, and the manager’s relationship with Brown and owner Fergus McCann deteriorated quickly.

Jansen quit Celtic just 48 hours after winning that historic title, and MacLeod soon followed. Dr Jozef Venglos replaced the Dutchman.

Meanwhile across at Ibrox, Rangers took action after losing their title domination and appointed Dick Advocaat to replace the departing Smith.

Advocaat won the Treble in his first season.

Looking back, MacLeod recalls: “It does only seem like the other day that I helped Celtic win that title with Wim. My memories of it all are still very fresh.

“The pre-season was unpredictable and we weren’t clear what was going on.

“I took charge of the summer tour to Holland because we didn’t have a manager in place after the club parted company with Tommy Burns and Billy Stark.

“Wim was appointed during the tour of Holland, and it was never certain that he would keep me as his No.2.

“But we hit it off pretty quickly and there was an immediate trust. That was vital for both of us, especially Wim.

“I was delighted when he told me he wanted to make the working relationship a permanent one.

“We then had to work hard to bring in players, and we signed eight or nine that summer, including Marc Rieper, Craig Burley, Stephane Mahe and Jonathan Gould.

“Wim also identified Henrik Larsson as his main target, and it took a while to get him because of the player’s legal dispute with Feyenoord.

“As the bid to sign Henrik took a wee while, I think Wim was presented with other options.

“But he was adamant Henrik was his man. He was determined to get him and willing to show patience.

“Well, as I don’t need to tell you, it turned out to be probably the best £650,000 the club has ever spent.

“Rangers started the season clear favourites to win the league. All the talk about 10-in-a-row added to the pressure we were under at Celtic.

“They had a strong squad, with players such as Ally McCoist, Jorg Albertz, Ian Durrant, Andy Goram. They also had Paul Gascoigne, Brian Laudrup and Lorenzo Amoruso.

“Then they brought back Richard Gough that season to bolster them midway through the campaign.

“We were up against it, and few outside of our dressing-room gave us a hope of stopping Rangers.

“It took a while for the players to gel and get going. We lost our first two league games, away to Hibs and at home to Dunfermline.

“The Celtic fans were wondering what was going on, and to say they were far from happy is putting it mildly.

“But Wim never panicked. He was calm and knew what he wanted to achieve and how we would do it.

“I was very impressed. There were times I was shouting and angry, but Wim always remained fully focused and would make little tactical adjustments during games that worked wonderfully well.

“It all paid off and worked out better than any of us could have hoped for.

“In terms of my career, I split it into two – my time as a player and my time in coaching.

“As a player, my undoubted highlight was scoring against Rangers when we won the League Championship in 1979 in the famous 4-2 win.

“In management, winning the League in 1998 was a clear winner.

“Beating St Johnstone 2-0 on the last day was an unbelievable experience.

“The emotion of it all and seeing the joy it brought to the supporters and people within the club.

“I’m so proud to be a part of that wonderful piece of history.

“We enjoyed the moment and it was also great for our families. They lived through every moment with us – the pain, the frustration and the joy.

“Wim left the following week and that was a pity.

“But we can never have that season taken away from us and to have won the title and the League Cup in the same season are wonderful memories.”