Just over ten years ago the club unveiled the so-called "dream ticket" of Barnes and Kenny Dalglish only to discover that the dream was a nightmare. Rookie boss John Barnes tried to stamp his own identity on the side, tried to implement his own footballing philosophy, during his ill-fated stint as Celtic boss and he failed miserably. Barnes and his backroom team were sacked following the infamous Scottish Cup defeat to Inverness Caley Thistle and Johann Mjallby, signed by previous boss Dr Jozef Venglos, thought the right decision had been taken. 
Following some poor results this season many pundits and fans have now started to make comparisons between the Barnes experience and this season, some even going as far as to demand that the present manager should be sacked now. Ex-Sweden captain Mjallby can understand the frustration of the fans but he insists that Mowbray is different from Barnes and that he must be given the time to get things right during this transitional phase.
"John Barnes was inexperienced and ultimately couldn't get the best out of the players." said Mjallby. "Celtic was his first job but Tony Mowbray arrived at Parkhead with far more experience as a manager. And I believe it is important that Celtic stay calm and don't rush to do anything. Of course, it is not good for them to be so far behind Rangers in the league. And at a club like Celtic the results are the bottom line. I quickly learned that after I signed for the club. The pressure is always on you and that is simply life at a big club. Tony Mowbray will know this, though, and I firmly believe that he should be given the time for his ideas to work. He has signed a lot of new players and they need the opportunity to settle."
Ki Sung-Yong, Jos Hooiveld, Thomas Rogne and Morten Rasmussen have arrived at the club during this transfer window and it seems they will be joined by more new faces over the next couple of days. Stephen McManus and Danny Fox have now joined Gary Caldwell, Barry Robson, Willo Flood and Chris Killen in a mass exodus from the club but that's football insists Mjallby. "It is always difficult when you see friends and experienced team-mates leave the club." he said. "But that is football. You still have to remain focused to do well. Under John Barnes we weren't picking up the points and the spirit in the dressing room wasn't as good as it could've been. At the time he lost his job it wasn't a mistake."
"After the defeat to Inverness I thought it was the right moment to look for a new manager." the Swede told the Scottish Sun. "Kenny Dalglish came in as interim manager for the rest of the season and we ended up winning the League Cup. For a long spell with John Barnes in charge we weren't good enough. It's always easy to put the blame on a manager and in that period the players had to have a look at themselves. But the spirit wasn't good enough and the confidence was very low. We couldn't play the system that John Barnes wanted."
"He didn't get the best out of the players while we also didn't perform well enough." he continued. "In fairness, John lost Henrik Larsson through injury for a long time and any manager would've suffered because of that. I am convinced, however, that Tony Mowbray can turn things around. There must be more belief in him. I would think the directors are backing him. That should be the case because Mowbray has been a manager for a few years. Celtic are not out of the title race by any means. But, yes, it is very important that they find a winning streak and the next Old Firm derby is going to be very crucial."
"It doesn't matter if players are coming and going if you're not picking up the points." said the former Celtic cult figure. "At Celtic you are expected to win games and lift trophies. It's always horrible when you are behind your biggest rival and chasing them. You can't afford to lose points. That's always going to build pressure on you. And if you aren't winning games then obviously your confidence is going to be hit. You will be down. At great clubs like Celtic you are always going to be judged by your position in the league and by winning trophies. You have to accept that as a player. But there also has to be an understanding that Tony Mowbray is trying to build a new team."
"I haven't watched Celtic as much as I would've liked." said Mjallby, now a football pundit for Swedish TV. "But from what I hear it is a very difficult time for everyone at my old club. I always want to see Celtic being successful and I hope things can improve for Tony Mowbray. I would like to see them go on a good run up to the next Old Firm game - then it will be interesting to see what happens."