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Trivia
- Craig Burley was signed from Chelsea on 25/7/97 for £2.5million and was given a five year contract to July 2002. He was seen as the person to fill the space vacated by Paul McStay.
- Jansen had identified the need for a goalkeeper, unhappy with Marshall now that Stewart Kerr would be out with a knee ligament injury. The latest link was with Mark Bosnich of Aston Villa.
- Henrik Larsson was signed from Feyenoord for £650k with a three year contract to July 2000. Clearance for him to play in this game failed to arrive. The rest would become history.
- Also being linked to the club were James Debbah (AC Milan), Stephane Mahe (Rennes), Szabolcs Safar (a Hungrian goalkeeper then on trial), Marcio Santos (Ajax)
- Parma, who had finished 2nd in SerieA the previous season were two weeks behind Celtic in preparation and used the game as a good pre-season trainer.
- Tommy Johnson, Burns’ last signing for Celtic, was being linked to moves to Manchester City. Frank Clark, City’s manager suggested he was top of City’s wish list. This tended to suggest that Jansen did not fancy Johnson despite statements from Brown that Celtic were a buying and not a selling club
Review
A creditable draw given results so far, against decent opposition. It started to look as though Jansen was setting his will on the team and they were becoming a ‘modern’ side.
Teams:
Celtic (4-4-2) – Marshall; McNamara, Mackay, Boyd, McKinlay; Donnelly, Hannah, Burley (Grant 57), Wieghorst (Gray, 42); Jackson, Johnson.
Non Used Subs: McCondichie, McLaughlin, McBride, Hay.
Scorer:Donnelly (73)
Parma (4-4-2) – Buffon (Guardalben,46); Ze Maria (Milanese 61), Thuram, Cannavaro (Franceschini 61), Benarrivo; Orlandini, Baggio, Giunti (Fiore 61), Pedros (Crippa 45); Maniero, Adailton.
Scorer: Adailton (60)
Referee – W Young (Clarkston)
Attendance: 29,798
Articles
- Match Report
Burley shines on his debut –
Football
Sunday Times, The (London, England)
July 27, 1997
Author: Kevin McCarra
Celtic 1 Parma 1.
THE friendly match has become the Prozac of football. It constricts the range of moods and nobody in the 27,789 crowd yesterday can have experienced a great leap of excitement or a spasm of anguish. There may have been a pang of regret when Adailton, Parma's 20-year-old Brazilian, scored, but even then there was a counterbalancing appreciation of his finishing.
The testimony that these occasions provide often turns out to have been perjury, but the evidence of Craig Burley's debut, following a Pounds 2.5m transfer from Chelsea, is probably to be trusted. Without any previous pre-season games, he lasted for an hour yet gave a full measure of encouragement.
Strong, industrious and careful with his passing, Burley looked as if he will increase the solidity of the side. It only remains to find a suitable partner for him. There is a great deal about his new club which has a provisional air. In the main stand, some corridors are dusty and poorly lit, with signs apologising for inconvenience experienced while the building work continues.
Celtic could take a few of those notices and place them around the pitch as well. In a few months, or even weeks, this team will surely look different. Yesterday, progress was thwarted by the failure of international clearance to arrive for Henrik Larsson, the Swedish forward who has been signed from Feyenoord for Pounds 650,000. In his absence, and with Paolo di Canio and Jorge Cadete withholding their services, the rudimentary air of the Celtic attack was pardonable.
Darren Jackson, the third of the signings that have so far been completed, did endear himself to the crowd with an energetic performance. Effort, though, was slow to produce entertainment, and the first save of the game was not required until the 56th minute, when Gordon Marshall tipped Pier Luigi Orlandini's 20-yarder round the post. Within moments, the Celtic goalkeeper was flicking Filippo Maniero's chip to safety.
It was as if Parma had decided hostilities should commence. As runners-up in Serie A, they do have a preliminary round tie in the European Cup next month to concern them. That appointment gave this match sufficient significance for it to be broadcast live on Italian television. Like Celtic, their team was weakened, with, for example, the injured Enrico Chiesa left at home.
His loss was scarcely felt when Adailton, after an hour, turned past David Hannah and swept a drive beyond Marshall at the near post. Celtic, who seem to have been given a more cautious system of play, were compelled to adventure and equalised stylishly in the 74th minute, when Simon Donnelly took Jackie McNamara's pass and strode past Ivan Franceschini before shooting home.
If this friendly was rather tame, a fiercer battle may not be far off. Should Di Canio fail to return to Glasgow, Celtic may suspend him without pay.
- Manager Interview
Wim Jansen, post match:
“Every day we get a little closer to the way we want to play and the system we want to play. With each new player that comes in our options increase and that allows us to be adaptable to different approaches within games.”
“We never set out to play a 5-4-1 but Parma pushed us back. They are a very strong gifted side and we were forced to become more defensive.
“I wan to see us playing in our opponents third because that is where you make chances.”
“We are short on numbers and find that we can be left thin if we suffer three or four injuries.”
Jock Brown on Tommy Johnson:
“No player will leave this club unless Wim says so and he has not intimated that he wants to lose anyone. We prefer not to make player enquiries public.”
Wim on Tommy Johnson: