Kheredine Idessane's column: 'Santa was booed last year, Celtic will roll out the red carpet come Christmas'

With Halloween and Bonfire Night both behind us, attention has already turned towards Christmas.

Santa's only got a few weeks left to get his plans in place for the annual dash round the globe. Though I'd say his stress levels about returning to Glasgow's East End have diminished somewhat.

Roundly booed at Parkhead last year when Celtic were losing at home to Hearts, the big man in the red suit and white beard will be the toast of Celtic Park this festive season.

It all speaks to Brendan Rodgers' quiet revolution that's now making a fair bit of noise.

Three consecutive Champions League wins at home? The team second in the Bundesliga sent back to Germany to think again? One win away from almost-certain qualification from the new-look format with several games to spare? Heady days indeed for Celtic.

Which makes the recovery since last Christmas all the more laudable. You don't see too many supporters turning to the seats in the main stand where the directors sit and openly barracking the board. Why would they?

The blazers took all the flack when Rodgers second coming hit a bump or two in the road but they won't get any of the credit for a bulging bank balance and a team on the park beginning to realise its true potential. The manager and players get all the plaudits.

The board, however, deserves credit on two fronts.

For having the foresight to convince Rodgers to abandon his gap year in the first place and return to a Celtic hotseat that many of his own folk didn't want him near. And then for backing him to the tune of over £30m in the last transfer window to have a proper crack at Europe.

It didn't appear to be going all that well when Dortmund banged in goal number seven just over a month ago. Turns out that was just a really bad day at the office. The general improvement curve has been upwards. Now spectacularly so.

Celtic are finally showing they belong in the Champions League. Probably for the first time in a decade. With home matches to come against Brugge and Young Boys, they have to use former captain Paul Lambert's words: "One foot in the door" of the next stage already.

Indeed, Rodgers had to stifle a chuckle when he was asked, in the post-Leipzig media conference, whether he might now be targeting the top eight and direct entry to the last 16?

"It's important to say humble," was his paraphrased reply.

If Celtic avoid defeat at Kilmarnock on Sunday, they'll have gone 30 matches with just the solitary defeat. The recovery from that mauling in Borussia Dortmund's Westfalenstadion has been both admirable and instructive. A lesson was learned and Celtic appear all the stronger for it.

They can look forward to maintaining their place at European footballâ€TMs top table well beyond the New Year, with that trip to Aston Villa looking particularly tasty at the end of January when neither side is likely to need the points.

As far as Christmas goes, don't expect any booing or heckling this year. They might even get the Parkhead red carpet out for Santa and his helpers. He'll be a much jollier fellow this time around for sure.