Celtic looked like a team going nowhere when they lost 1-0 to Rangers in December.
They were bullied, out-fought, and deservedly lost the game. Indeed, the defeat could have been much worse than it was.
Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton was just one of many to criticise Celtic after the game. Calling it Celtic’s ‘worst performance of the season’ on his Twitter account.
He also claimed there was ‘work to do in January’.
Since that defeat though, Celtic have roared back to life with a series of victories. The most recent being the 2-0 win over Hibernian which kept the Hoops six points clear at the top of the league. The win over Hibernian was Celtic’s sixth victory in a row in all competitons.
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Credit for the performances has to go to Brendan Rodgers, who has rejuvenated the players in the middle of a huge injury crisis.
The likes of Scott Brown, who had a dreadful game in the loss to Rangers, have markedly improved their performances since then.
There also has to be praise for the players that came in to the club in January. Jeremy Toljan, Oliver Burke and Timothy Weah have all made an impression so far. The ‘work to do’ that Sutton talked about in his aforementioned Tweet has worked out so far.
In the aftermath of the Old Firm loss, doubts might have crept in about Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic for the first time in a long time.
Since then however, the Hoops have kicked into gear and look well set to win another league title. The Europa League clash with Valencia should hold no fears either.