Any thoughts we had of making a challenge for the league were safely binned over the next few weeks as hard fought wins (5:4 having been 4:2 down at Brockville with only 10 men) were followed up with meekly conceded defeats (home against Hibs and Thistle). In the search for scapegoats Gordon Marshall made way for Pat Bonner, a bizarre decision given that Bonner certainly wasn't performing any better. He was the goalie who let in four at Brockville besides the fact that for Europe Marshall had to be recalled anyway thanks to the three foreigners rule (or the eight diddies rule depending on your point of view).

Our erratic form was superbly summed up in our UEFA Cup clash with Cologne. The performance in Cologne must go down as one the poorest ever by a Celtic team in Europe. In a 2:0 defeat we didn't manage even one shot at the German 'keeper, and both their goals were easily avoidable defensive debacles. The worst thing about it was that Cologne were clearly a side there for the taking.

As we proved in the return leg. Midway through the first half of the return at Celtic Park McStay cracked a left foot volley past Illgner to raise everyone's hopes. Minutes later Collins attempted a bold swerving shot from the far edge of the box and Creaney got the slightest of touches to it, redirecting it into the far corner. Victory was in sight, although we still had to sweat for it. With only seven minutes left Collins gathered a throw-in, and jinked his way into the box. Just as it looked as though he'd gone too far he poked the ball beyond Illgner, and made the unlikely prospect of Celtic in the second round a reality.

Those cheeky pranksters at UEFA didn't much fancy Celtic staying in the competition too long though, and in the next round we found ourselves staring down both barrels... with Borussia Dortmund staring down the other end. It was, of course, typical that we would save one of our better performances for the away leg. We hit the bar, McStay and Collins were constantly troubling their defence, and we were a wee bit unlucky to lose 1:0.

But the return leg soon found us out. Creaney gave us the lead, but we never had full control of the game. Dortmund were good value for their two second half goals. So we were out of Europe again - we'd barely made it past Halloween - and our next game was against Rangers.

Just as everything at Celtic had been turning sour, everything at Ibrox had been coming up rosy. Their latest triumph had been to turf Leeds out of the European cup on an aggregate of 4:2 (They won both legs 2:1). They couldn't have arrived any more confident. True to form we lost thanks to a first half Durrant goal, and that, as far as the league was concerned, was that.