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Trivia
- The ‘transfer’ of Paolo di Canio blew up in Jock Brown’s face. After stating many times that Celtic would not sell di Canio, he was ‘swapped’ for Sheffield Wednesday's Regi Blinker and £3.00million on 6/8/97. Blinker was known to Jansen from his time at Feyenoord.
- Blinker was paraded in front of the crowd at half time.
- It was strongly rumoured that the Brazilian defender Marcio Santos, then with Ajax, would be moving to Celtic. The deal for Paul Lambert looked to have fizzled out to nothing when Borussia Dortmund and the player stated that he was happy in Germany.
- Chris Hay was sold to Swindon on 5/8/97 for £300,000. Pat Bonner also ceased all ties with the club during this week.
- Marshall was ill, Jackie McNamara was out with a bruised hip, Tommy Johnson was out with a stomach muscle strain. Phil O’Donnell started his first game of the season having suffered a knee injury. Larsson made a home debut, whilst Gould and Mahe made their first Celtic appearances.
Review
A far better all round performance – as much as could be gauged from a friendly – with new bhoy Mahe in particular looking good. In some reports the goal is credited to Thom.
Teams
Celtic: Gould; Boyd, Annoni (Hannah, 46), Stubbs, Mahe (McKinlay, 62); Thom (Donnelly, 73), Burley, Wieghorst, O'Donnell (Gray, 85); Jackson, Larsson (McLaughlin, 86).
Non Used Subs: McCondichie, MacKay
Scorer: OG, Aldair (31)
AS Roma: Konsel; Cafu, Aldair, Servidei, Candela; Sergio (Gautieri, 69), Di Biagio (Heiguera, 69), Scapolo (Tomassi, 46), Balbo, Delvecchio (Totti, 46); Di Francesco
Non Used Subs: Chimenti, Lucenti, Gomez.
Referee: H Dallas (Motherwell).
Attendance: 43,895
Articles
- Match Report
Mahe makes his mark for Celtic
The Scotsman 07/08/1997
Celtic 1 Thom (31)
AS Roma 0
CELTIC may have taken this friendly last night much more seriously than AS Roma, who sometimes seemed to be on holiday, but that should not detract from the significant improvement in the Parkhead side, who well deserved their 1-0 victory.
If the exercise was designed to reveal potential, however, nobody demonstrated that more than debutant Stephane Mahe. The tall Frenchman, taking Tosh McKinlay's usual beat on the left of defence, must have looked to Celtic fans almost too good to be true.
Not only was he a splendid provider of crosses with sound positional sense defensively, but he looks capable of looking after himself physically. In short, precisely the kind of player Celtic have lacked for years.
Until he was accidentally clattered by his team-mate Alan Stubbs, and replaced by McKinlay after 62 minutes, Mahe looked a genuine prospect.
There was another bonus for Wim Jansen in the return of Phil O'Donnell, who looked fit, strong and mobile in midfield.
Playing for Celtic these days is one long trial, with masses of frustrated supporters scrutinising every movement in a desperate search for encouraging portents.
This expectancy is, of course, accompanied by impatience, and the new players drafted into Jansen's side must surely sense the need to make a quick impression.
In the absence of the newest boy of all, Regi Blinker – the former Sheffield Wednesday player's international clearance did not arrive in time – the others managed to look good so early that they were a goal ahead after 31 minutes.
The goal was nicely worked. Mahe's deep cross from the left was knocked across the area by Stubbs to Andreas Thom, who whipped his header into the net from eight yards (or another account has it as “….put pressure on Aldair, who headed into his own net.”).
The improvement in players such as Henrik Larsson, who made only a brief appearance against Hibs, and Craig Burley, becoming fitter with each game, was quite stark.
Roma should probably have scored before Celtic, but Luigi di Biagio headed a cross from Cafu too high, and referee Hugh Dallas refused them a clear penalty when the dithering Enrico Annoni lost possession to Abel Balbo and clearly fouled the Italian captain in an attempt to retrieve the situation.
- Manager Interview
Wim Jansen, post match:
“After the Hibernian match, I was much happier with this performance.
“Especially in the first half when the boys created a lot of chances.
“They were a little bit tired after the break and the game slowed down but I was satisfied with the first half performance.