1996-01-06: Celtic 1-0 Motherwell, Premier Divison

The Herald (Glasgow)
January8, 1996
Celticskipper's weakness is his lack of goals; 'Colossal' McStay – but he's still the nearly man

TOMMY Burns rarely indulges in hyperbole. TheCelticmanager prefers to think before he speaks, and after his eyes had scanned the room as though searching for the appropriate words he felt it acceptable to describe the work done by Paul McStay againstMotherwellas "colossal".

The midfield player, who is enjoying a creative season asCelticdemonstrate their true power and threaten to relieve Rangers of their premier division championship, played passes, made tackles and interceptions, and surged forward in support of attacks. Always he moved with a grace and style, and he did indeed appear to be something of an inspirational captain.

However, and without wishing to be churlish, there is a glaring weakness in McStay's play. He is not scoring often enough.His work rate and desire to take possession allow him more touches of the ball than most other players on the same pitches, andCelticare entitled to believe McStay should score more goals. He last found the net in August 1994, when he scored against Rangers, Frankly, that is not good enough.
It seems we are always finding fault with some part of the McStay game or psychological make-up, and because he emerged at an early age displaying great promise, the expectations of others were always high. He has been examined in greater detail than most other players and even now there are some still waiting for McStay to fulfil his potential.
There is a school of thought which insists he might have become more of a player had he moved away fromCelticPark where he was often looked upon as the only saviour. In recent times, when the team were sliding towards mediocrity, the fans expected McStay to arrest the decline, but the club's problems were so severe, no one man could have pulledCelticback from the brink.
Skill, belief, money, and the right kind of people have been returned toCelticPark and the future looks brighter with McStay still an influential figure in most of the good things that happen on the pitch, but if only he could score regularly. McStay has always been one of an endangered species in that he is an intelligent and cultured midfield player, but with a decent strike rate, he might be out on his own. He would then be a sublime footballer, maybe even a colossal one.
Nevertheless, a McStay-drivenCelticcan be a pretty potent force and when John Collins and Phil O'Donnell also are in the mood, the way in which Burns' side move the ball around is a joy to watch. They were worth watching only in spells againstMotherwelland although Pierre van Hooydonk's goal gave them the points, they lacked the vibrancy often shown this season.
Motherwellstarted out determined to dampenCeltic'sstyle by deploying Shaun McSkimming on the left to block Jackie McNamara's runs, and Eddie May was charged with the responsibility of looking after Collins.
Unfortunately for them they lost McSkimming after 20 minutes when he twisted a knee and had to be removed on a stretcher adding to the casualty list which has restricted the Fir Park side severely this season. Alex McLeish sent on Andy Roddie and he certainly took care of McNamara by clattering into him in 36 minutes.
Roddie was cautioned and McNamara, whose place was taken by Peter Grant, was booked into hospital where it was discovered he sustained a broken jaw which could keep him idle for up to five weeks, although the player is hoping to be back sooner. "I saw a specialist and we are hopeful I will be playing in three weeks," McNamara said.
Roddie himself was substituted in 67 minutes when Jamie Dolan took over and McLeish explained later: "Andy had been booked and his timing in the tackle was not at its best."
The timing and the balance of Brian Martin were also off when van Hooydonk scored his goal in 27 minutes after a decent build-up. The Dutch striker played a pass intoMotherwell'sbox and O'Donnell managed to win possession from keeper Scott Howie before rolling the ball back to van Hooydonk, whose shot was low but not particularly fierce.
Martin was placed at his keeper's left-hand post and instead of using his left foot to block the shot he dragged his right leg across his body and made a mess of trying to clear. The ball bobbled into the net, and givenMotherwell'slack of strike power as they wait for Tommy Coyne to return from injury, they were never likely to score.
They did play much better in the second half and even knocked the ball around with a confidence which belied their lowly position in the division.Celticat times appeared nervous and in jeopardy of lapsing into old ways when fear prevented them from expressing themselves.
Motherwell'sGreg Denham also was booked but the youngster had another fine match.

The Times
January8, 1996; Monday
McLeish in danger of running out of sympathy at Fir Park

BYLINE:Kevin McCarra

THE lower end of the Bell's Scottish League premier division is a shabby neighbourhood and the football clubs which find themselves there feel dispossessed.Motherwellsupporters may have a particular inclination to grumble. For them, it is as if they have been evicted after father lost the family mansion in a poker game.

Last season, a sustained stylishness madeMotherwellrunners-up in the premier division and proud owners of a Uefa Cup place. His more bitter critics will argue that Alex McLeish, if not a reckless gambler, has been prone to misguided speculation that has seenMotherwell'slost prosperity.Of course, the idea that the club has appointed a calamity as its manager is far-fetched. It was, after all, McLeish, in his first season in the post, who steeredMotherwellto that satisfying second place.
He did so with the team that he had inherited from Tommy McLean, his predecessor as manager, but nobody can seriously claim that McLeish alone has infected Fir Park with failure since then.
The club has long been prone to ill-health because its location, in a town hit by the decline of the steel industry and far too close to Glasgow, makes it vulnerable. The occasional success is a respite from the struggle. McLean was a formidable manager atMotherwelland brought the club the Scottish Cup in 1991, but even he was not spared the times of dread.
Motherwell, after a 1-0 defeat away toCelticon Saturday, are in ninth position, but the surroundings should not feel so very strange. In 1992, they finished eighth. Near the beginning of McLean's tenure, when he was just beginning to restore a club that he had taken over in ruined condition,Motherwellshould even have been relegated.
In 1986, the premier division was instead expanded to save them. Then, it was whispered thatMotherwell, had they gone out of the top flight, would also have gone out
of business. Subsequent seasons, though, saw McLean marshall the Fir Park club with an extraordinary shrewdness.
McLeish, in his first managerial appointment, must try to duplicate McLean's remarkable exploits. There is, all the same, a limited amount of sympathy available to the present manager. He has, byMotherwell'sstandards, spent heavily, getting through most of the Pounds 1.75 million raised by the sale of Phil O'Donnell toCelticlast season.
None of the newcomers, however, has made a great impact. In fairness,Motherwellhave been hampered by serious injuries, but, againstCeltic, when the team was only two or three players short of full-strength, the impression of sickness still prevailed. Nor did the third round draw for the Scottish Cup, made in the evening, promise a tonic. Aberdeen will be menacing visitors to Fir Park.
McLeish will have to find a way of implanting conviction in this team, becauseMotherwell'srelegation looks entirely feasible at present and no manager can ever avoid the blame for such failure. Slight consolation lies in the fact that Falkirk, 4-0 losers to Rangers on Saturday, have contrived to be marginally worse.

Scotland on Sunday January7, 1996, Sunday Bittersweet win forCeltic BYLINE:Graham Spiers CELTICevidently want Tommy Burns' blood to curdle a little thicker. They got up to an old routine here: scoring a goal, hogging possession, but then subjecting themselves to a counter-onslaught from the opposition that might not have been prolonged but brought no end of heartfelt strain. It was a comic absurdity, given who had dominated, that the home side more thanMotherwellwere relieved to hear the referee's final whistle. Poor Alex McLeish's team experienced 80 minutes of solid tyranny. Then they gathered their confidence, charged upfield, and one rollicking effort from Rob McKinnon off Paul Lambert's perceptive pass had Gordon Marshall flinging himself at a post asCelticsupporters were choking. If that effort had gone in it would have smacked of Whites, Kellys, and songs about looking on the bright side all over again. For all Burns' rehabilitation ofCeltic, they would do well to finally take heed of episodes such as these. That old sore, over-indulgent prettiness, re-appeared like an old fever at times yesterday. In the race for the championship we have this image ofCelticcarrying berets and paintbrushes into the penalty box, while Rangers go for a more ruthless spraygun approach.Celticmust pursue that championship prize over the next few weeks without Jackie McNamara. He suffered a broken jaw in a collision with Andy Roddie and was already in hospital before this match was over. Motherwellhad time to savour nothing save for their own stark survival. They failed because they could not fractureCeltic'smonopoly on possession. Utterly devoted and stylish at sweeper was Miodrag Krivocapic, an old Montenegran going on 37, but this means nothing for a team toiling to save themselves from relegation. Krivocapic could have been thankful he kept one of his defensive partners with him. Greg Denham was rightly booked in the first half for some quiet wrestling with Andreas Thom, and in the second was highly fortunate to stay on the field after a brute of a challenge on Tom Boyd. From beneath the roof of that brand new choir stall holding 26,000 Parkhead choristers, the hymn of praise to Pierre van Hooijdonk was once more wafting forth. In these extremely resilient daily prayer sessions that Tommy Burns holds down at church, he must have thanked the creator a hundred times for leading him to this player. It's doubtful if God goes a bundle on the famed Dutch system, but something between Parkhead and heaven nudged Burns in that direction. If only in the production process the Lord had granted Van Hooijdonk a little more spring. It's about the only gripeCelticsupporters can come up with about him, ironic, really, given that he's about the height of a floodlight pylon. Burns, however, will remain unperturbed about this, especially if he can continue racking up goals like he did yesterday. When he isn't straining to head the ball, Van Hooijdonk is galloping around ferociously, rumbling between defenders with extraordinary deftness at his feet. Here he seized possession 40 yards from goal, made an astute pass to meet Phil O'Donnell's darting run, and when O'Donnell laid the ball back into his path, the Dutchman stabbed at the ball with an assured right boot to beat both Howie and a bumbling Brian Martin on the line. Poor Martin bore the appearance of someone carrying a white stick with a cap on the ground: he looked about as sure it was the ball flying past him as a stray dog around his ankles. Motherwell'squite hopeless pursuit of this game wasn't helped by their loss of Shaun McSkimming through injury after a mere 20 minutes. His replacement, Andy Roddie, then went in dreadfully hard on Jackie McNamara with just over half an hour of the game having elapsed, resulting in the young defender's broken jaw. Roddie, whose career is already a forlorn battle with his own self-confidence, was then mercilessly booed. His manager hauled him off after 68 minutes and he looked a miserable figure trudging away to the shower. The instinctive abuse football supporters can generate is as formidable at Parkhead as anywhere. Here wereCelticstroking the ball around, knitting together possession neatly and precisely, yet when Donnelly committed the minor sin of failing to trap a pass, the rancour that erupted would have been more fitting for a rapist. In fact, Donnelly has intelligently adapted to his role wide on the right – even if, like many of his team mates yesterday, he overcooked the ingredients. Celticshould have hadMotherwellbludgeoned into submission long before the end. Howie tipped Collins' raking 30-yarder over his bar, Boyd walloped the ball across goal instead of in, and Thom and Van Hooijdonk were prancing like tap dancers in front of goal. Thom's one eye-popping moment in this affair came after the half hour when he worked a neat one-two with his striking partner and then produced a shot which careered past Howie's left-hand post. In the 81st minute, Lambert's crossfield pass to a rampaging McKinnon was exquisite. McKinnon hardly paused before swinging a left boot, and hammering the ball with a full-blooded volley against Marshall's stinging palms. Marshall had terrible diarrhoea last midweek. He didn't half preventCeltic'sskitters here.