| Match Pictures | Matches: 1996 – 1997 | 1996-1997 Pictures |
Trivia
- The club had been due to have further talks with Van Hooijdonk’s agent, with an offer of a £3.5million deal on the table which would make him the third highest wage earner at the club behind Andy Thom and Paolo Di Canio. This however was linked to a contract extension to 4 years and the talks were at first rejected by Pierre’s agent Rob Jansen. By this game there was still no resolution and Pierre was suddenly injured.
- John ‘Yogi’ Hughes was sold to Hibernian for £250k. Yogi had found it hard to hold down a regular first team slot and Hibernian were in need of defenders. Burns said: "John Hughes is the perfect example of a guy who has worked hard and given everything to the game. He's a credit to his family and every hard-working pro, a throwback to the old days when players gave all for their team. The job Yogi did for us went beyond all expectations – he came as a squad player, yet became a fixture for 14 months. But he's a Hibee and lives on the club's doorstep. It's an opportunity for him to make a few bob and I must admit I love to see a guy such as Hughes doing well."
- Tommy Burns had just picked up a Manager of the Month Award for October’s performances.
- Phil O’Donnell (hamstring), Paul McStay (ankle), Andy Thom (stomach muscle), Pierre van Hooijdonk (calf muscle) and Jorge Cadete (hamstring) were all out for the game.
- Barry Elliot made his first team debut (and only Celtic first team appearance) coming on for Chris Hay on 84 minutes.
- Speculation linked Celtic to Tony Rougier of Raith Rovers (again) and David Hannah of Dundee Utd.
Review
This result put Celtic top of the league (on goal difference) for the first time this season.
Teams
Celtic (4-4-2):
Kerr; McNamara, O'Neil, Stubbs, Boyd; Donnelly, Grant, Wieghorst, McLaughlin (McKinlay 65 mins); Di Canio, Hay (Elliot 84).
Non-Used Sub: MacKay
Scorer: Di Canio (70) 1-0.
Aberdeen (4-4-2): Walker; McKimmie, Irvine (Ingolfsson 45), Kombouare, Tzvetanov; Miller, Kiriakov, Rowson, Young; Windass, Dodds (Booth 73).
Non-Used Sub: Stillie
Yellow cards: McNamara, Donnelly (Celtic); Dodds (Aberdeen).
Referee: M McCurry (Glasgow).
Attendance: 50,136.
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Articles
Celtic reach the summit
Scotland on Sunday 03/11/1996
Celtic 1 Aberdeen 0
THIS was a fantastic riot of an assembly at Celtic Park. A crowd of 50,136 watched Celtic storm the top of the Premier Division for the first time since last September, thanks to Rangers wilting in Kirkcaldy, but thanks mainly to Paolo di Canio, a pest, a torment, and scorer of a fulsome goal.
The placid Italian departed this jangling arena by taunting Aberdeen's supporters and appearing to wag his finger in the direction of the press box.
We were mere bystanders who quaked at this. The match was thunderous, marauding from end to end, and in its final chapters the noise swirling around Parkhead could have aroused a graveyard to life. Di Canio's punishing finish came in the 70th minute; just the moment when we thought Celtic were starting to sag.
Aberdeen played in spurts of passion and purpose although the list was small of moments when they truly threatened Celtic's goal. Billy Dodds couldn't finish a prized opening after 18 minutes, a miss that caused his manager to have kittens on the trackside.
There were times when Roy Aitken's behaviour here was an embarrassment to his club. It is one thing to be swept up in the current of the cause, quite another to goad match officials and constantly yammer in their ears. In the second half, Aitken's antics were so provocative that Tommy Burns, Celtic's manager and his old team-mate, asked the linesman if he would not get the Aberdeen boss to shut up. This didn't half cause a minor spat between the two. "A little disagreement," Burns said later with a smile, but it was an issue.
It almost made the eyes water watching Aitken constantly haranguing and abusing his team. During these games, he seems to view the technical area like a smelling compost shed: he's off his backside and out into the open air whenever he can, laying into his players, and, more often than not, laying into the referee as well.
Yesterday, Aitken was so hard at it, prancing about the place that he worked up a sweat and had to remove his overcoat. The principal cause of all this was the poor, horse-whipped Dodds. The striker so sclaffed at a shot and made it go out for a throw-in instead of a goal that Aitken was bouncing with rage as if on a trampoline.
Like a sombre and placid cardinal, little Tommy Craig has to stand and witness this exhibition. Craig is not averse to the odd surge of emotion himself, but watching his boss jab this way and that, and fling his arms like a windmill, must sometimes make him cringe and want Aitken chained to his seat. Talk about a manager transmitting calm to his players…
What cannot be in doubt is Aitken's solidifying of Aberdeen's hopes. In Antoine Kombouare he has brought a sophisticated and stylish defender to Pittodrie, a player who passes with ease but who isn't scared to mix it with Scottish brawn. Ahead of Kombouare, the Aberdeen central midfield was patrolled by the two youngsters, David Rowson and Darren Young, whose intelligent running and vision was another appealing aspect.
Aitken bangs on about youth like a tedious evangelist mentioning sin, but he does have a point, especially at a club with limited resources. He was at it again yesterday. "The young players did really well, they're a bonus for the club," he said. "We're trying to make progress and improve at Aberdeen, which I think you could see from that performance today. In the last five minutes, the crowd were dying for it to finish."
Both these teams scorned some glorious chances – especially in the first half – and Aberdeen's spuriousness must have had Aitken's arteries clogged. That opportunity for Dodds came after a trifling 18 minutes, sent on his way by Dean Windass's lofted pass, but the little striker appeared so taken aback at the space that his mind seemed to scramble before he hopelessly flailed at the ball.
As for Windass: this unathletic-looking midden of muscle seems to have no end of tricks or treats. The way he adeptly spread about the play for Aberdeen yesterday, even from a deep-lying striking role but with a weighty crash off his right boot, was a joy to behold and an accursed nightmare for Celtic. From a point on the park simply teaming with players, Windass belted a through-ball to Joe Miller for another chance after 43 minutes. The winger's chip wafted over Stewart Kerr's bar.
Celtic's gleaming blade in front of goal seemed to be every bit as blunt. Di Canio – white boots this time – was a tip-toeing ballerina past this defender and that, but whenever he squirmed through Aberdeen, someone would squander the opening. Three minutes prior to the break, he set up Simon Donnelly, who nodded past. One minute after that, he teed up for Brian McLaughlin, who sliced the ball over.
The game had such fantastic rage and passion about it that you knew one team or other would surely spear their way through. The strongest hint came from Celtic – Brian O'Neil's header smashed off Walker's bar after 59 minutes and Di Canio was a torment whenever he seized the ball. And Di Canio it was.
Donnelly, who had earlier missed something of a sitter himself, this time hared his way right into the pit of Aberdeen's area before turning back the ball into Di Canio's on-rushing path. The Italian re-adjusted, stretched out his right leg, and diverted the ball past the diving Walker. At the end, he wasn't half celebrating, jabbing around fingers and fists at everyone. It was a garbled sort of message.
- Manager Interview
"We have had opportunities in the past to go above Rangers and blown every one of them," Burns said. "It showed character and perseverance to do what we have now accomplished. I asked Di Canio to be the side's father figure because, with so many young players, they needed someone who could slow the game down. He is a passionate man who has quickly developed a strong feeling for our club."