For all that he did wrong during his short reign as Celtic head coach, John Barnes's record against Aberdeen was second to none. In fact it was 18 to none. That is the astonishing aggregate goals tally of the three Scottish Premier League games between Celtic and Aberdeen this term, a sequence of results reading 5-0, 7-0 and 6-0.

Taking that into account, tomorrow's League Cup final between the pair at Hampden Park would appear to be a predictable affair - but nothing about either club has been that this term.

Celtic's troubled campaign started with a honeymoon period for Barnes, before a steady decline ahead of a Scottish Cup third round shock loss to Inverness which was deemed grounds for divorce.

That meant Director of Football Operations Kenny Dalglish, the man whose choice Barnes had been, was obliged to take temporary charge of first team affairs to repay the debt of a failed gamble.

A Parkhead legend as a player, Dalglish has still to rule out making the job his own on a permanent basis and tomorrow's outcome could yet have a bearing on that particular decision.

The Aberdeen who Celtic meet at the National Stadium are likely to be a very different proposition to the side who struggled to manage a goal, never mind a win, at the start of the season.

They endured several agonising months as Dane Ebbe Skovdahl was unable to translate his ideas to the players. And as the defeats mounted, the former Brondby coach decided on plan B: change the players. Cue a foreign legion to rival that of the Old Firm in quantity, if not quite quality, as the likes of Hicham Zerouali, Cato Guntveit and Arild Stavrum arrived and made the desired impact.

"I knew what I was buying," said Skovdahl as his team began playing the way he wanted them to. "I didn't like being the worst side in Europe"

Aberdeen are hoping that Celtic's painful ability to self-destruct might again come to the fore. What odds the aggregate score of meetings with the Dons this season reading 18-1 by tomorrow night?

Losing the one that matters has been a Celtic trait for too long and Dalglish now has the responsibility of putting in motion a much-needed step in the right direction for the Glasgow giants.