| Match Pictures | Matches: 1997 – 1998 | 1997-1998 Pictures |
Trivia
- Played at Ninian Park Cardiff.
- Di Canio’s ‘leetle problem’ turned out to be that he wanted to be paid £20k per week. The club continued with the line that he would not be sold, he was in breach of contract and Celtic would not play him and sit on his contract rather than give in. Meanwhile Paolo having returned to Italy sent in a sick note saying he was suffering from stress.
- Cadete , was suffering from stress or something heavier. Celtic were willing to sell him as soon as possible. Celtic Director Eric Riley and club doctor Jack Mulhearn had been to Portugal to see Cadete and speak to his physicians there.
- Peter Grant’s move to Wolves collapsed with Grant saying he would never trust Mark McGhee again.
- The Dutch tribunal ruled in favour of Larsson and he was now free to sign for Celtic. Negotiations started at a pace but he would be ineligible for the UEFA Cup qualifying game.
- Jansen said the players had not been affected by the di Canio situation – Brown said they had. It was a less than full strength side that travelled to Wales with Johnson, Jackson and Stubbs carrying knocks, MacKay suspended, Kerr, Annoni, O’Donnell and Hay missing with various ailments. Graeme Morrison, Barry Elliot, Andy McCondichie and John Paul McBride were drafted in from the Reserves.
- Murdo MacLeod was promoted to Assistant First Team coach after the nod from Jansen.
- Ulrich van Gobbel (Southampton), Alessandro Calori (Udinese), Craig Burley (Chelsea) and Larsson were the latest people said to be moving to Celtic.
- Brian McLaughlin flew back to Glasgow as his wife went into labour with their second child.
Review
Bog standard and the expected result, the team pretty much turning off in the second half.
Teams
Inter CableTel:
Ellacott, Jenkins, Hewitt, Rickard, David, Philpott, Davies, Wharton, Burrows (Jenkins, 69), Haig (Wile, 79), Gibson (Murray, 62).
Subs: Randell, Richards, Morris.
Bookings: Burrows (Inter CableTel)
Celtic:
Marshall, Boyd, McKinlay, McNamara, Stubbs, Gray, Thom, Johnson (Jackson, 69), Donnelly, Hannah, Wieghorst.
Subs: Morrison, McCondichie, Elliot, McBride.
Scorers: Thom (pen 6), Johnson (45), Wieghorst (81)
Referee: A Ibanez (Spain).
Attendance: 6,980
Pictures
- Match Pictures
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Stats
| Inter CableTel | Celtic | |
| Bookings | 1 | 0 |
| Fouls | 8 | 7 |
| Shots on Target | 2 | 7 |
| Corners | 2 | 8 |
| Offside | 1 | 3 |
Celtic off on Welsh cruiser –
Football
Sun, The (London, England)
July 24, 1997
Author: Jimmy Jazz
Estimated printed pages: 1
Inter Cable-Tel 0 Celtic 3
CELTIC put their recent off-field problems behind them to score a comfortable victory over Inter Cable-Tel in last night's UEFA Cup qualifying tie first leg at Cardiff's Ninian Park.
Wim Jansen's first game as head coach finished in a deserved win for the visitors, with goals from Andreas Thom, Tommy Johnson and Morten Wieghorst crowning a game they dominated throughout.
Dutchman Jansen had promised before that the absence of controversial forward Paolo Di Canio through stress wouldn't unsettle his side – and that was the case as the Bhoys virtually booked their ticket for the next round.
Thom's sixth minute penalty eased the fears there might have been from the Bhoys, the German sent Ellacott the wrong way from the spot.
For the rest of the first half Celtic dominated, only to find keeper Ellacott, a fireman by trade, ready for most emergencies that came his way.
Double
But Celtic continued to push forward and Inter's defence was broken on the stroke of half-time by former Aston Villa man Johnson, who pounced on a loose ball to double his side's tally.
After the break Celtic appeared to be ready to settle for what they'd secured and slowed the pace of the game.
On the hour, Thom again found room on the left, but was stopped by a well-timed tackle by Richard Williams in the penalty area.
But Thom continued to run the show and it was his hard work which almost resulted in a third Celtic goal when Johnson's fierce downward header was blocked.
Problem
Moments later Johnson gave way to sub Darren Jackson, letting the former Hibs man make his debut after being unable to start because of a hamstring problem.
And Jacko was denied a goal with just 10 minutes left when the outstanding Ellacott saved well from close-range.
But from the resulting corner Celtic snatched their third goal after 81 minutes with Wieghorst jumping highest to power a header into the roof of the net.
Match Report:
(Sporting Life)
By Simon Buckley, PA Sport
Celtic put their recent off-field problems behind them to score a comfortable victory over Inter Cable-Tel in tonight's UEFA Cup qualifying tie first leg at Cardiff's Ninian Park.
Wim Jansen's first game as head coach finished in a deserved win for the visitors, with goals from Andreas Thom, Tommy Johnson and Morten Wieghorst crowning a game they dominated throughout. Dutchman Jansen had promised beforehand that the absence of controversial forward Paolo Di Canio through stress would not unsettle his men and so it proved in a composed display which will ease the present Parkhead turmoil.
Thom's sixth minute penalty eased any fears there might have been, the German sending Marty Ellacott the wrong way with a precise low shot. The spotkick was given after impressive winger Jackie McNamara broke into the box with a typically clever weaving run.
For the remainder of the first half Celtic dominated, only to find keeper Ellacott, a fireman by trade, ready for most emergencies that came his way. A flying save from Thom's powerful drive kept the tie alive on the half-hour and then the German ran through again, only to shoot wide of an inviting target. But Celtic continued to push forward and Inter's resolute defence was broken on the stroke of half-time by former Aston Villa man Johnson, who pounced on a loose ball to double his side's tally.
The Welsh side were unable to create any chances in response to this barrage, with hard-working front man Richard Haigh finding himself short of service.
After the break Celtic appeared to be ready to settle for what they had secured already and in warm conditions slowed the pace of the game – though that did not prevent their travelling support from raising the volume.
On the hour Thom again found room on the left, but was stopped by a well-timed tackle by Richard Williams in the penalty area. However, Thom continued to run the show and it was his hard work which almost resulted in a third Celtic goal when Johnson's fierce downward header was blocked. Moments later Johnson gave way to substitute Darren Jackson, enabling the former Hibernian man to make his debut for the Glasgow giants after being unable to start because of a hamstring problem. Jackson was denied a goal to mark the occasion with just 10 minutes remaining when the determined Ellacott saved well from close range.
But the resulting corner led to Celtic's third goal after 81 minutes, with Wieghorst jumping highest to power a header into the roof of the net. In a measure of the tie's one-sided nature,
Celtic keeper Gordon Marshall was not pushed into making a save throughout the 90 minutes after stepping in for the injured Stewart Kerr. In fact, central defender Alan Stubbs, the former Bolton star, was often the only man back for the visitors as they pushed forward at every opportunity, only to be frustrated for much of the match by Inter's defensive tactics.
Prior to the game, an emotional tribute was paid to Celtic legend Jock Stein, including a well-observed minute's silence. Wreaths were laid to mark the first visit of a Scottish side to Ninian Park since the famous night in September 1985, when Stein died within hours of guiding Scotland to the World Cup finals.
Tonight's match was moved from Inter's Leckwith Stadium to accommodate the wide interest in a tie which Celtic always expected to dominate.
Whether they will be quite as commanding against stronger opposition in the later rounds remains to be seen, but for the moment it represents a good first night's work for Jansen.
- Manager Interview
Wim Jansen, post match:
“We scored at the right moments and to net an early goal and to follow it up witrh another before half time was ideal.
“We knew they would pack the middle of the park so we tried to play down the flanks but maybe we should have done that a bit more.
“We tired a little in the second half and our performance went flat. We were looking to keep the pace up that we set in the early stages but it didn’t work out and we were over cautious.
“We should have played more up front – you don’t make chances at the back.”
George Wood, CableTel manager:
“My lads must have gone through about 20 toilet rolls before hand, so I feared the worst.
“But considereing the gulf in class between the teams I’m delighted with our performance.
“We lost silly goals but never our shape. We were up against international-class footballers and to lose only three was no mean feat considering that two years ago most of our lads were playing for pub teams.”