Kenny Dalglish criticises a number of former Celtic players

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The Celtic Star

·06 de fevereiro de 2026

Kenny Dalglish criticises a number of former Celtic players

Kenny Dalglish has criticised a number of former Celtic players for their conduct during John Barnes’ brief and disastrous spell as manager more than two decades ago…

John Barnes Head Coach Glasgow Celtic FC 15 August 1999. Photo Imago Mary Evans

The Celtic icon also acknowledged that he now wishes he had offered greater support to Barnes during his time in charge. After a decorated playing career at Celtic between 1969 and 1977, Dalglish returned to the club in 1999 as Director of Football, overseeing Barnes’ appointment as head coach despite the Englishman having no previous managerial experience.

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Barnes – whom Dalglish had signed for Liverpool in 1987 – enjoyed a bright start at the Hoops, winning nine of his first 11 league matches and overseeing emphatic 5-0 and 7-0 victories over Aberdeen.

However, the campaign soon deteriorated, with Celtic slipping far behind Rangers in the title race and crashing out of the UEFA Cup against Lyon. Barnes was sacked shortly after a humiliating 3-1 defeat to Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Scottish Cup.

24 July 1999: Celtic head coach John Barnes signs autographs before the pre-season friendly against Leeds United at Celtic Park in Glasgow, Scotland. Leeds won 2-1. Photo: Chris Lobina /Allsport

Dalglish subsequently stepped in as interim manager for the remainder of the season. Although Celtic finished a distant 21 points behind champions Rangers, he led the club to League Cup success before stepping aside once more at the end of the campaign to make way for Martin O’Neill.

While Barnes’ time at Celtic remains a sore memory for many supporters, Dalglish believes some of the players involved at the time should reflect seriously on their role in the club’s struggles.

Speaking on The Warm-Up Podcast, Dalglish said: “Digger [Barnes] had the second-best start of any Celtic manager at that time. They went up to Aberdeen in the first game and won 5-0. I didn’t know when to help him. I could have maybe helped him but I didn’t want him to feel like I was trying to undermine him. I think that was my mistake and my fault.

“But some of them in there [Celtic players], by the way, were disgraceful. Here’s an example, we are at home on the last day of the season against Dundee United and there were eight or nine boys making their debuts.

“Out of the players I worked with, I thought he [Barnes] would have a good chance. He picked it up from Graham Taylor [at Waford] before he came to us so he must have some experience and knowledge of football.”

Dalglish added: “We looked good enough in pre-season to me and I thought it was an even money chance that he would be relatively successful. I didn’t regret not going back, I regretted not helping more than I could of. I was trying to do it with John’s best interests [in mind].”

“When he left, I think they [Celtic players] knew in that dressing room what they had done. If they had never, they got told that anyway. We won the League Cup by beating Aberdeen.”

“I might have been the manager but it was mostly from the work that John did from getting us that far.”

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