| Match Pictures | Matches: 1999 – 2000 | 1999-2000 Pictures |
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Trivia
- Celtic finally got their act together and submitted the appeal against Petrov’s work permit knock back from the Department of Education and Employment. He had to be signed by 6th August to beat the UEFA signing deadline. Though he failed the new criteria, which said that any none EU player must have appeared in 75 per cent of his country's matches in the last two years, Petrov had played for the Bulgarian Under-18 team at 16, the Under-21 side at 18 and made his full debut at the same age. Petrov, in Germany with CSKA on pre-season pledged his future to Celtic.
- It appeared that Alan Stubbs had made the decision to stay at the club. He was in further talks with Allan MacDonald. "The whole illness has put the stuff about moving back south in perspective and it has also made up my wife Mandy's mind as well because the club has been fantastic to me through this and stood by me all the way. Some other clubs might not have done that.”
- Marc Rieper restarted training after his toe operation. The operation, which had involved trimming bone in the toe and wiring the joint, looked to have been a success.
- Stewart Kerr withdrew his transfer request in the light of Chelsea’s acquisition of Carlo Cudicini.
- Stephane Bonnes was offered a four year contract but Jochen Kientz was released. Celtic also announced that Enrico Annoni had been released from his contract Though Barnes did not appear to be aware of this in the post match press conference) and was free to leave the club.
- Mahe was out with a groin injury, McNamara, Stubbs and Rieper were recovering from operations in the closed season, Larsson, like Kharine was out with a calf strain, Kharine also with a slapped wrist from his disciplinary incursion in talking to the press before Barnes or McDermott. Burley again failed to feature and had so far been seen in only one pre-season game.
- Robert Duvall attends this game.
Review
A noisy Leeds travelling support. Half time draw made by Hollywood actor Robert Duvall. Pre-season in Norway might have looked good but this was the real stuff and despite Leeds just starting their pre-season they looked the better side by far having the majority of the possession. Leeds had new signings Danny Mills, Michael Bridges and Michael Duberry in their squad but only Mills appeared. A cracker of a goal from Tebily – unfortunately an own goal. Nobody was quite sure what the formation or the tactics were.
Teams
CELTIC: Gould, Boyd, Mjallby, Tebily, Riseth, Moravcik (Petta 66), Brattbakk (Burchill 45), Viduka, Berkovic, Lambert, Wieghorst.
Non Used Subs: McKinlay, Blinker, Johnson, Bonnes, Kerr (gk).
LEEDS: Martyn, Mills, Harte, Batty, Radebe, Woodgate (Kelly 37), Hopkin (Haaland 76), Smith (McPhail 66), Hasselbaink, Kewell, Bowyer (Bakke 35).
Subs: Robinson (gk), Jones.
Goals: Smith (10), Tebily (og, 48),
Referee: J McCluskey (Stewarton)
Attendance: 52,715
Articles
- Match Report
Celtic's flawed Olivier
Scotland on Sunday 25/07/1999
By Andrew Smith AT CELTIC PARK
Celtic 1 Leeds United2
TUMULT can take its toll. The faithful came to praise the new Celtic and gave them a raucous reception that was positively roof-lifting as the traditional huddle was performed seconds before kick-off. Leeds United, in contrast, came to bury them and did so comprehensively by virtue of both force and fluid football that was the mark of an encounter competitive in nature, if not name.
And in the canon of unfortunate Celtic home debuts, that of Olivier Tebily will be given high ranking after the French defender spoiled an otherwise decent first afternoon in his new surrounds with a corker of an own goal. It was one of the truly spectacular variety with the defender airborne and his boot almost in line with the crossbar as it met an Alan Smith centre to send the ball flying beyond his own keeper in the 49th minute to give Leeds a two-goal advantage that they fully merited. This was whittled in the dying minutes when one of the other Celtic first-timers, Bobby Petta, won instant approval for his delicate skills by riding several challenges with the help of the break of the ball before a flick of the boot sent a curling effort out of the reach of Nigel Martyn.
The light relief for the Celtic fans in the 52,715 crowd was obvious as they cheered the goal more loudly than the circumstances of the match would dictate they should have. But it was any port in a storm for a support who had to accept being outdone on two fronts, with the team given the run around and the small band of Leeds fans making merry – the only section of the support to find their voice as the encounter wore on.
For large swathes of a bump and grind first half, the frailties of the much-vaunted Barnes' attacking system were exposed. Indeed, by agreeing to a match against Leeds, Barnes was throwing his new charges in at the deep end.
On yesterday's evidence, David O'Leary's side are contenders for a top-five placing in the Premiership, if not something more. Their ability to weld a wince-inducing physical approach to a lung-bursting enthusiasm you would expect of a team for whom the age 20 is recent past or soon-to-be future, was hugely impressive. Barnes appeared with Kenny Dalglish, Eric Black and Terry McDermott to take their bows before the first whistle, and the man with the masterplan was all smiles and relaxed to the point of being horizontal. His first-half at Celtic Park was, however, the kind to send him bolt upright, fidgety and sour of face.
Leeds took a stranglehold early on that they never looked like surrendering and Celtic merely flattered to deceive initially with the odd bright move. One was in the opening minutes when the ball zipped forward via 5.75m man Eyal Berkovic, another debutant, and Lubo Moravcik, only for it to then be snarled up in the feet of Harald Brattbakk. Some things never change.
The Norwegian was featuring in the absence of the injured Henrik Larsson, and without the talismanic Swede Celtic were unable to rely on a forward presence to knit together whatever pretty patterns they created, suggesting the more things change the more they really do stay the same.
Within nine minutes, Celtic found themselves trailing. A whistling drive from 30 yards by Danny Mills, a 4m summer buy from Charlton Athletic, proved the catalyst. It was slapped, flat-palmed, by the hands of Jonathan Gould straight into the path of Smith, who had hared into the box to be on hand to tap it over the line.
Only Mark Viduka looked like doing the same for Celtic, and, in the opening half, he twice employed his bulk to bound past men and drive into the box.
On the first occasion, Martyn smothered the Australian's shot at the near post, while 11 minutes from time the striker opted to cut back from a tight angle to set up Berkovic, whose ambitious hitch-kick took flight.
There was a crushing lack of width about the Celtic formation and the upshot was Berkovic and Moravcik constantly being crowded out in a clogged-up midfield area. They found themselves attempting to thread the ball through the eye of a needle while buffeted by robust challenges from David Batty and David Hopkin.
Leeds were simply a class apart from their opponents, and, fortunately for Barnes' side, decided to sit on their lead in a second period which saw the pace drop but Celtic make no greater headway, even with Mark Burchill on for the ineffectual Brattbakk. The Elland Road side were already thinking of their post-match baths when Petta struck. And the Celtic fans were already heading to the exits, sobered if not dejected. Many indeed could still raise a chuckle with one stating confidently to a friend: "It'll get better."
It will have to if Barnes' big dreams are to be realised. And the Englishman is already beginning to talk like a fully-fledged head coach should, admitting: "There's still a lot of work to do," before pointing out that teams such as Leeds will not be coming around every week for his new side. He should rest easier in his bed knowing just that.
- Manager Interview
John Barnes, post match
"That was a typical performance from a team that's been together for two or three years to one that's just beginning. As a passing team we can't afford to give the ball away as cheaply as we did today. I was looking forward to this test, to see how far we had come. This game showed where we are.
“In Norway we did well against lesser opposition but we have to play teams like Leeds and Newcastle if we are to learn.
“Olivier did really well against Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. He’s a real handful but Olivier is very quick and strong and can mark. But I am not concerned with singling out individuals. It’s how the team plays and we have got to get consistency. For the first 15 minutes we passed the ball well but we did not continue that.”
Morten Wieghorst:
"It's better to get misunderstandings and soft goals out the way before we start for real on Sunday.
"I'm in central midfield beside Paul Lambert and that 's a bit unknown to me but I will work hard to try and perfect it.
"It means I can't go forward too often and that's a big change from the title- winning side two years ago when I moved forward a lot."