The Scotsman took over at the club in June 2005 following a 16-month break and was mortified to see the side lose 5-0 to Artmedia in the Champions League, but knew things would only get better.

He reflected to FourFourTwo magazine: “Getting beaten 5-0 in Bratislava in my first game at Celtic, you think you’re the worst manager in the world – everybody else did that night.

“Sometimes you think, ‘How bad can things get?’ On my tombstone, it will say, ‘Even this is better than Bratislava.’

“But to achieve anything in life, you have to take a few hits. I remember Dermot Desmond coming down after the game to reassure me that everything would be all right.

“He said, ‘You’ll only see me when you’re needing help.’

“I didn’t see him too often, apart from on the golf course. My time at Celtic was terrific after that.”

One of Gordon’s most memorable games as a player was also a heavy defeat, when Dundee lost 6-0 to Queen of the South back in 1977, because his attitude in the game led to him making a big move.

He explained: “I was 20 and captain of Dundee for the second leg of a League Cup tie – we drew the first leg, then got hammered away.

“There’s a time in your life when you think, ‘I’m a useless captain’.

“We were embarrassed, but 10 days later, Billy McNeill signed me for Aberdeen – I later found out that a big part of his decision was that Billy’s best friend, Mike Jackson, was Queen of the South manager.

“Billy asked how I did and Mike said, ‘He kept plugging away right to the end.’

“Even now, when I think about it, it’s too scary to contemplate missing out on the life I’ve had if I hadn’t kept trying.”