| Match Pictures | Matches: 1997 – 1998 | 1997-1998 Pictures |
Trivia
- Darren Jackson would be out for at least 3 months. He was taken ill before the dramatic home tie against FC Tirol Innsbruck. After tests he was diagnosed with Hydrocephalus. He had surgery to relieve the build up of pressure.
- Jorge Cadete completed a £3million move to Celta Vigo signing a three year contract there. The fee was reported as anything between 2 and 4 million pounds.
- Celtic were drawn again Liverpool in the first round proper of the UEFA Cup.
- Tommy Johnson had a hernia operation in an attempt to fix the stomach muscle strain he had been suffering from.
- There was a gap back to the last match due to internationals, and the game against Rangers was postponed due to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
- Celtic’s interest in Marc Rieper continued to drag on. After four weeks negotiations terms had still to be agreed between the club, West Ham and the player and agent.
- Eric Black was appointed Head of Youth Development taking the full title of Development Manager – Football with a 5 year contract. His playing career had principally been with Aberdeen before joining Metz in France. His career was cut short by a back injury and he moved into coaching. He had been a Youth Coach with the SFA prior to taking the Celtic job. Willy McStay was confirmed as Head Youth Coach.
- Fergus McCann faced an angry set of fans at the club’s AGM on 4/9/97. The main gripe appeared to be the lack of investment and the team losing games, however a lot of frustration concerning the sacking of Tommy Burns and the ‘Tres Amigos’ affairs were aired. Fergus’ themes were the financial strength of the club, development for the future, completion of the stadium and working within reality. This was backed by Jock Brown who said that the Tres Amigos had put Celtic in a position where they had to be sold and the club should feel no guilt about making a profit on their transfers. Brian Quinn, who was the appointed Vice-Chairman started on a familiar theme of casuistry with which he would become associated, when he was accused of warning McCann of the financial constraints on signing players. When accused of this at the AGM , Quinn replied with a question asking whether he had stood in the way of team strengthening.
- The first talk of a Football Academy being built but no concrete plans.
- Celtic were linked with a bid for Barcelona striker Juan Pizzi.
- The Premier Division clubs notified the Scottish League of their intention to resign and create a new Premier League with the hope of starting this in the 98/99 season.
- For this game Stewart Kerr was missing but on the way back to fitness after recovering from a knee injury, Alan Stubbs was still recovering from a knee problem, Annoni was dropped, Wieghorst was away on international duty.
Review
[….]
Teams
Celtic: Gould; Boyd, Mahe, Hannah, MacKay, O’Donnell, Larsson, Burley, Donnelly, Thom (McKinlay, 84), Blinker (McNamara, 70)
Subs not used: Gray
Scorer: Larsson (28)
Motherwell: Woods, May, McMillan (Ross ,66), Christie (Shivute ,63 ), Martin, Denham, Weir, Valakari (McCulloch ,78 ), Coyne, Falconer, Coyle
Bookings: Christie ,Coyle ,Ian Ross ,Weir (Motherwell)
Sent Off: Ross (90, Motherwell)
Referee: K Clark (Paisley).
Attendance: 37,006
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Stats
| Celtic | Motherwell | |
| Bookings | 0 | 4 |
| Sent Off | 0 | 1 |
| Fouls | 11 | 20 |
| Shots on Target | 6 | 3 |
| Corners | 5 | 1 |
| Offside | 2 | 3 |
Larsson lifts Celtic
The Scotsman 11/09/1997
Celtic 1 Larsson (28)
Motherwell 0
CELTIC were installed as favourites for the Coca-Cola Cup even before a ball was kicked in last night’s quarter-final at Parkhead, thanks to Rangers’ elimination 24 hours earlier.
But the Parkhead side must have left their backers wondering if their money had been misplaced. On a night when they could have won by the length of a street, their inept finishing allowed Motherwell to come close to equalising Henrik Larsson’s first-half winner.
Larsson’s goal was not only the least Celtic deserved from an opening 28 minutes of insistent pressure on the visitors’ goal, but helped their supporters to rediscover a confidence that had been diminished by earlier frustrations.
There were times before that goal, especially when an earlier “score” was needlessly invalidated for offside – when the home fans would have been entitled to that sinking feeling.
Celtic had exerted that smothering, almost overwhelming pressure which makes you wonder how their opponents’ goal can survive, but had still managed to play almost half-an-hour without troubling the man who records the goals.
When Donnelly’s effort was disallowed, it was the result of misplaced enthusiasm, but was also enough to make anyone think that it might not be Celtic’s night.
Andreas Thom began the business by carrying the ball past three defenders to the line and delivering his cross to the far side of the area.
Regi Blinker, who had already demonstrated a neat line in ball skills on several occasions, this time met it first time and sent a low, controlled drive towards the net. Donnelly, in his haste to make sure, simply made himself offside and when he pushed the ball over the line it was immediately cancelled. Had he left Blinker’s shot alone, the goal would have stood.
Still, Donnelly had already shown himself to be something of a menace, at one stage chasing and gathering a long ball from Tom Boyd, teasing Stephen Woods from his goal and then seeing his shot cannon from the goalkeeper, loop and spin on to the crossbar and drop back into the arms of Woods.
That was only one of a series of near things before Larsson finally delivered the goal that counted. It was Stephane Mahe, always a dangerous provider of crosses, who supplied the ammunition, galloping down the left before sending the ball beyond the far post.
Larsson appeared to be at an impossible angle, almost on the by-line, when he made contact, but he managed to squeeze the header into a tight space.
It was difficult to regard Motherwell as rivals throughout that first half, as they appeared to be more like victims of an implacable bully. Never seen to be retaliating in the vicinity of Jonathan Gould, the visitors appeared likely to be reduced to dust long before the half-time whistle brought relief.
That they were still on their feet at the interval was attributable to a combination of Celtic’s poor and at times unlucky finishing and some desperate defending from Woods and his colleagues in that crowded area.
Motherwell’s Kevin Christie, Owen Coyle and Mickey Weir were all booked in the first half.
Whatever frustration Celtic felt as a team at being only one ahead must have been multiplied several times in the individual psyche of young Donnelly. His first-half misses were repeated later, on at least two occasions from opportunities that a professional striker should convert. In those moments, it is easy to see that Celtic still lack a natural scorer in the Jorge Cadete mould.
Thom began the build-up to the first with a raking ball out of defence down the right to Larsson. The Swede looked offside, but was allowed to continue and cleverly played Donnelly through the middle with a sweeping low centre. Donnelly had only Woods to beat, but knocked the ball off the goalkeeper’s legs.
Donnelly’s next miss was probably more culpable because he failed to hit the target, carelessly and hurriedly volleying a menacing cross from Thom feet too high from only six yards. Celtic’s failure to extend their advantage led almost inevitably to scares around Gould, who several times had to rush from goal to intercept dangerous through balls after his defenders’ concentration had lapsed.
Motherwell’s Ian Ross was sent off late in the game for a second bookable offence.
- Manager Interview
Wim Jansen, post match:
“We caused ourselves problems not scoring the second and third goals that would have made the game easier.
“But it is nice to know we are in the last four and we will do everything possible to reach the final. However, you never know what will happen in the Cup games. Just look at Rangers. “ ( A reference to Rangers loss to Dundee Utd by 1-0 the previous night).