| Match Pictures | Matches: 1997 – 1998 | 1997-1998 Pictures |
Trivia
- The Celtic players had snubbed the club Christmas party and organised their own do when Fergus McCann refused to pay for the WAGs meals and drinks saying that they could attend after the meal only.
- Marc Anthony of the Reserves joined Tranmere Rovers on loan to the end of the season.
- Eric Black was in Argentina on a youth talent scouting mission. This would eventually lead to the arrival of a bunch of Argentinian trialists none of whom were taken on.The newspapers connection of Black to Pablo Aimar seems unlikely given what transpired.
- Marc Rieper was out with an injured calf muscle. Malky MacKay who would probably have stepped in was out with a twisted knee. Stephane Mahe missed the game with a hamstring strain, Phil O’Donnell now had a calf strain having recovered from his ankle injury and Tommy Johnson remained unfancied by Jansen.
- Reports started circulating that Andreas Thom was angling for a return to Germany
Review
Jim Duffy was having a hard time turning Hibs fortunes around. Celtic with the right results had the potential to go top of the league.
Teams
Celtic:
Gould ; Boyd , Hannah , McNamara , Annoni, Stubbs , Larsson (Jackson ,72 ), Burley , Wieghorst (Brattbakk ,66 ), Lambert, Blinker (Thom ,81)
Scorers: Burley (23), Wieghorst (38), McNamara (48), Larsson (64), Burley (90)
Bookings: Burley, Jackson (Celtic)
Hibernian:
Reid, Miller, Boco, Dods, Hughes, McQuilken, Walker (Miller ,66 ), Harper, Crawford (Rougier ,75 ), Dow (Charnley ,71 ), McGinlay
Bookings: McGinlay (Hibernian)
Referee: S Dougal (Burnside)
Attendance: 49,094
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Stats
| Celtic | Hibernian | |
| Bookings | 2 | 1 |
| Fouls | 8 | 16 |
| Shots on Target | 7 | 4 |
| Corners | 4 | 4 |
| Offside | 1 | 1 |
Burley a gem among riches
Scotland on Sunday 21/12/1997
CELTIC 5 HIBERNIAN 0
NOW we know why Harald Brattbakk looks like an accountant. He has come to Scotland to tot up some of the more dramatic ledgers produced by Glasgow's dominance of our football. Celtic had gone 470 minutes without conceding a goal before yesterday, Hibs' 16 hours of football without any sort of win and a full year without experiencing an away victory in the league. Apart from a flurry at the start, another 90 minutes to each of those tallies was always going to be added here.
The barest statistic, however, is that with Celtic and Hibs you used to have two big clubs, but now there is only one. Jim Duffy's side are weak, and wheezy; gormless in adversity at the moment. They were bright and skilful during the opening quarter, yet Celtic only needed one goal – against the flow of chances – to turn them into dullards.
Duffy must now get to work on a plodding defence, a brittle midfield and a group of players among whom there are too many unwilling to take responsibility with the ball.
"The second, third and fourth goals were embarrassing to lose," he said. "Some of my players are better than they are playing at the moment but I am not going to slaughter them. Maybe I've made too many changes in recent weeks.
"Obviously, this can't go on forever, but it's up to the directors to decide whether I'm doing a good job or not. It's a job I worked hard to get and one that I'll work hard to keep."
For Wim Jansen this was a taste of a vintage Celtic love-in. There were PR gimmicks, famous fans (Ken Doherty) paraded, a huddle, cuddles, and sentimental applause for players (Regi Blinker and Enrico Annoni) whose glamour belies their ability. In a throwback, there were even more Scots than foreigners scoring goals, albeit only just.
Craig Burley continues to be an unexpected treasure-trove with regard to this. Paul Lambert's flawless presence only appears to have freed the midfielder to pursue opportunities further. The second goal, a juicy strike from long range, the mark of an extraordinarily gifted player.
The form of such as Burley is why Jansen, despite playing three up front, again picked five recognised midfielders. Before the deluge it appeared he had been a mite too respectful towards Hibs. The sting of that induction into Scottish football at Easter Road has obviously died hard. Jansen must have been pleased to witness Chic Charnley – a hero of that day – waving to pals in the main stand from the dugout, rather than directing Hibs out on the pitch.
Initially, Celtic began like a tide coming forward, leaving too many players beached upfield when forced to retreat. For a while, Hibs, with Jean-Marc Boco a surprise in the Charnley role, were adept at taking advantage on the counter. Chipper little Kevin Harper was refulgent in this period and played in the ball from which Andy Dow should have given Hibs the lead, failing in a one-on-one against Jonathan Gould.
With Gould having already spilled two corners and the whiff of Andy Walker always near, this provoked a deep growl from the stands. As Celtic fans are wont, they had traversed the whole gamut two minutes later. Lambert snapped in between Jamie McQuilken and Dow to win the ball and send Jackie McNamara to the bye-line. Burley slipped the cutback past Chris Reid for the first.
Hibs, as is often the case with strugglers, are becoming conditioned by defeat and appeared to recognise its signs. Forgetting how they had started in 38 minutes, they offered no more resistance than training ground cones when Morten Wieghorst leapt to glance in Blinker's corner for the second.
At times, it did seem like all Celtic's midfielders might spoil the broth. A move just after half-time saw Lambert, Wieghorst and Burley pinging numerous passes back and forth on the edge of the box, unable to penetrate because of too much sideways instinct. Eventually, the ball arrived at Henrik Larsson who played the first forward pass of the sequence and suddenly McNamara was clear. The wide man, benefiting unintentionally from his bad first touch, then poked it over Reid and in off a post.
Then the procession. Annoni, cherished for being from Italy but playing like a Scot, won a tackle and sent Larsson forward. John Hughes shielded the ball towards Reid but the Swede, quick of feet as he is of mind, nipped in, dinked over the goalkeeper and fed the accepting net.
Celtic's last was their finest: a big, big drive into the top corner by Burley from 25 yards. By that time, following six substitutions, the game had become a bit of a mess. Goodness knows what will ever pull hapless Hibs from the one that continues to surround them.