Former Celtic boss John Barnes has boldly claimed that there was ‘a bit of an agenda’ against him during his ill-fated spell at Parkhead.
The former Liverpool star became Celtic boss at the start of the 1999/2000 season but was sacked in February soon after a shock Scottish Cup loss to Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
Barnes has now claimed that there was an agenda against him at the club during that spell, and the loss to Inverness gave the Hoops an ‘excuse’ to sack him.
In a column for The Times, he said: “The Old Firm is unique, and the pressure can be intense. I had the best win-ratio since Jock Stein — 65.5 per cent — but the fact we were behind Rangers meant that it was viewed as not good enough. Rangers at that time had top internationals, players of the calibre of Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Jörg Albertz, Andrei Kanchelskis. We had Henrik Larsson but he broke a leg and missed most of the season.
“There was a bit of an agenda against me and then when we lost in the cup against Inverness Caledonian Thistle that gave some people the excuse they needed.”
OPINION
While it is clear that Barnes believes his sacking at Celtic was undeserved, that is not the case in anyone else’s mind. The former England international is widely seen as one of the worst managers in the club’s history, despite what he claims here about his win record. There is no doubt that the pressures of the Old Firm outweigh any other rivalry in Britain, and it takes a strong manager to stand up to the challenge. It will be interesting to see how another Liverpool legend, Steven Gerrard, deals with it if he takes up the mantle at Rangers. Reports seem to suggest that a deal is close to being agreed. with the 37-year-old himself confirming that positive talks had been held and were to be picked up on Thursday. Gerrard will find himself in a similar position to Barnes, having no senior management experience, and it will be a baptism of fire for him if he does decide to take on the challenge.