Ange Postecoglou's Celtic side have all but tied up the cinch Scottish Premiership title with anything bar a loss at Tannadice on Wednesday officially crowning the Hoops.
But a shaky start to the season gave credence to the voices the Australian wouldn't last long.
Three away defeats in a row saw many develop doubts, worries that had begun even before he was in place at Lennoxtown.
However, Celtic' s the third loss on the road became their final defeat in the league with the Hoops on a run of 31 games unbeaten since then.
Throw in the Premier Sports Cup as well and the Celtic machine was truly motoring.
The Parkhead boss' achievements saw him awarded both the PFA and SWFA Manager of the year awards.
The accolades are sure to take pride of place on Postecoglou ’s trophy stand, but despite the success he couldn't help but take a dig at his doubters during a Celtic press conference on Tuesday.
Speaking about this season and the awards that have come with him, he said: "Going into it, there wasn't a huge deal of expectation in terms of success.
"Whether that was because of me and my own background or because of the ground we needed to make up.
"People just recognise the challenge we had and how we have embraced that challenge.
"I take great pride in it, but like I said on the night, I didn't get the one I was favourite for – sacked by Christmas."
Postecoglou hopes Celtic make it a "special" night for the fans when they face United.
He said: "We are under no illusions, tomorrow we have an opportunity to make it a special night for the football club and our supporters. I am sure they will enjoy it.
"After last season's disappointments, not just the fact that we obviously didn't have success as a football club, they weren't able to feel part of it, they couldn't contribute as they weren't allowed in the stadiums (due to pandemic restrictions).
"This year everyone has put in maximum effort including our supporters.
"Everything they had pent up from last year they have released this year in a positive way and I am sure everyone is looking forward to the last two games.
"Our role in that is to make sure we continue on with our good form and continue on from the football we played at the weekend and take that into tomorrow night and as I said, take the opportunity to make it a special night."
