One year ago, Brendan Rodgers resigned as Celtic manager, with Martin O'Neill immediately taking the reigns in what the Scottish champions thought would be an interim period in charge. Twelve months on, O'Neill is still there, albeit over two spells with 33 dismal days under Wilfried Nancy squeezed in between. So where are Celtic at in terms of "moving forward", that cliched business term that has seeped into football parlance?
Shortly before his exit, Rodgers described the Celtic squad as "a Honda Civic rather than a Ferrari" as he bemoaned transfer spending, but how much longer will it be steered by his 74-year-old successor? O'Neill on Johnston injury, Celtic milestone & No.1 battle O'Neill had admitted he considered his position during the last international break, but he showed no signs of being ready to walk away when addressing the media before Wednesday's meeting with Dundee United. Asked how he looked back on his latest year in charge, he replied: "Obviously with a lot of satisfaction and secretly probably delighted to get the call and happy with the results since.
So it feels like a long year. "The club has done more for me than I've done for the club in that sense. Seriously, it's rejuvenated me in many aspects." Previous to his return, O'Neill had been "semi-enjoying my life watching the game from afar" and "talking nonsense most of the time" as a football pundit.
However, he was delighted with the opportunity to return to "a game that I absolutely love, will love forever". One year of O'Neill - saviour or sticking plaster? Rodgers' second two-year spell as Celtic manager came to an end after a 3-1 defeat at Hearts that left his side eight points behind the Edinburgh side after nine games.
They had lost two of those nine, scoring 12 goals for the loss of eight. Despite Hearts retaining their lead until the final day of the season, Rodgers' fellow Northern Irishman would turn it round in the end with a dramatic victory over their title rivals at Celtic Park to secure their 56th league title and fifth in a row. This season, O'Neill's side have lost only one of their 10 league games, scoring 25 times for the concession of six, to lead Rangers in the title race.
On the surface, 16 wins in 17 league games since the closing stages of last season looks like progress. As Celtic podcaster Tino Callaghan told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast: "On the last day of the season - 16 May - everything did turn out fine and dandy. "Currently, things are six out of 10 at Celtic.
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