(relax, we win this time).

The aftermath of the cup win was all too typical; the joy of finally winning something was quickly dampened by the news that Fergus McCann and Tommy Burns had had a bust up over how much money was available to strengthen the squad. It also became clear that the squad was about to become a good bit weaker with the possible departure of John Collins.

A list of all the players we were linked to would require several sheets of A3 paper and some of the names on it would cause the reader to cripple themselves with laughter, especially if the press descriptions of certain players were added. Remember Marc De Gryse? Described by the Daily Record as - wait for it - the Belgian Maradona, he was supposedly on his way to Celtic Park until his hunger for trophies took him to Sheffield Wednesday, where he didn't exactly cover himself in glory. PSG star David Ginola actually turned up at Celtic Park, but it turned out that it was just a rouse to crowbar more money out of Newcastle.

Things weren't exactly helped by the fact that Rangers had gone on another shopping spree, buying up Russian forward Oleg Salenko, defender Gordan Petric from Dundee United (we were also linked with him - when the huns wheeled him out the Daily Star compared it to their signing of Le Merde) and the real jewel in their crown, Paul Gascoigne, for £5m from Lazio. Gascoigne's signing was a real coup given that at that time he could have taken his pick from almost any team in the Premiership.

This was all turning up the heat on Fergus and TB. Finally, after much negotiating, we signed forward Andreas Thom. Rumour had it that Fergus was unhappy with the German's wage demands but eventually agreed to them after considering the size of crowd that had gathered outside Celtic Park in anticipation of seeing a new signing. Not only would another failed transfer attempt anger the crowd, it would send a clear message about our ambition.

Following Thom we signed centre half John Hughes from Falkirk, a surprise move to say the least but one which turned out to be inspired. Yogi wasn't everyone's idea of a great footballer, but he was a decent defender who could organise. He was also a great motivator. A team with John Hughes in it certainly wouldn't lose through a lack of heart.

It wasn't all incoming players. Paul Byrne exited stage left after failing to live up to anything like his true potential and Mike Galloway was a target for Mark McGhee at Leicester. While travelling down to discuss the move Galloway's car was involved in a horrendous crash. He had to be cut from the car, and for a while his life was in danger. He pulled through but the extent of the injuries meant that his playing career was over.

Pre-season we played a couple of pub teams in Germany before going around a few English grounds: Goodison for Neville Southall's testimonial and St. Andrews where we were 'welcomed' by the local neo-fascist skin heads. That was nice.

Saturday 8th August 1995 saw the official opening of the new North Stand at Celtic Park. It was a close thing. Council inspectors were still on site on the morning of the game, but eventually we got our certificate and the game could go ahead. The visitors were Newcastle, a team certainly on the rise and destined to throw away that season's Premiership. They had spent plenty of money during the summer, adding the likes of Ginola (given a well deserved round of boos for his antics during the summer) and Les Ferdinand to a squad that already boasted Peter Beardsley. The stand was officially opened by Rod Stewart -we're in his heart and soul, apparently - who was also awarded a free seat for life. No more queuing up for tickets for Rod then. The game finished 1:1, Thom winning a penalty after a superb turn of pace, and Ferdinand scoring with a fine header.

The following Wednesday saw the visit of Liverpool. A 0:0 draw represented an improvement on our last meeting, a 6:0 gubbing the previous year.

The season kicked off for real with a League Cup game at Somerset Park against Ayr United. Our ill-fated League Cup run of the previous season had started there also, but there was no comparison. The previous season the Hoops had scrambled to a 1:0 win; this time we strolled to an easy 3:0 victory, the real bonus being that both Thom and Pierre van Hooijdonk not only scored, but also linked up extremely well.

Our league season started at Starks Park against the bogeymen of last season Raith Rovers. In previous campaigns this would have represented a very awkward fixture, one that would probably have cost us a point or two. But this game marked a real turning point. With 10 minutes to go and the score still 0:0 Celtic won a free kick. It was played into the box where Rudi Vata headed it back to van Hooijdonk, who turned it in and won the game. Three points had been taken from a tricky away fixture and the memory of the previous meeting had at least been slightly soothed.

As if to prove the point we then had the pleasure of taking even more revenge on Rovers by knocking them out of the League Cup in controversial circumstances. Hurrah! At 1:1 and deep in to extra time Raith put the ball out to allow treatment for Peter Grant. The ball was thrown to Pierre who headed it out for a Rovers throw, so they now had possession of the ball. From their throw in they lost the ball and Celtic scored. Cue explosion from Jimmy Nichol. Which was quite funny for a number of reasons, one of which was that the previous season, in a crucial promotion game with St. Johnstone Jimmy had actually ordered one of his players not to throw the ball back to the Saints after they played the ball out to allow treatment to a Rovers players. Rovers scored from the resultant throw in. Live by the sword etc. etc.

Our next league fixture was at Pittodrie, not a ground we had enjoyed visiting in recent years. This game was to be broadcast live on Sky, a relatively rare occurrence in those days, but one which we would quickly become more accustomed to given that Sky had signed a lucrative deal with the SPL. Scottish football had its own highlights show and at least one live game a week. After our game Sky were showing a Manchester City game and in the studio they had City's new signing, so new he wouldn't even be playing that afternoon, our very own Gerry Creaney.

The date was September the 10th 1995, the 10th anniversary of the death of Jock Stein. After 15 minutes we were two goals down. Not good. The first was a Boyd own goal, the second had come from a slack pass from Simon Donnelly, but Celtic were playing pretty well, passing the all on the ground and generally dominating. Minutes after going two down Donnelly played a neat pass to Collins, he took it in his stride and with the outside of his boot curled a remarkable shot into the net. What followed was a remarkable display of possession football with a real cutting edge. Thom equalised with a cross/shot that floated over the Aberdeen goalie Snelders. He was having a hell of a weekend, the previous day the papers had been full of the story that he wanted to sign for Rangers; you can imagine how that went down in Aberdeen. To wrap up an incredible come back Collins fired home a loose ball in the box, Aberdeen were stunned.

At half time the Sky pundits couldn't get over the possession stats and no one could see how Aberdeen would get back into the game if we didn't give them the ball. The game finished 3:2, but the manner of our win sent a clear message that Celtic planned a real challenge this year. ploughed in to the back of him to concede the spot kick.