| Match Pictures | Matches: 1998 – 1999 | 1998-1999 Pictures |
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Trivia
- Vidar Riseth duly signed from LASK Linz on 21/9 for £1.5 million with a 4 year contract. He became Dr Jo’s first signing. Fergus McCann called him ‘Vidmar’ when introduced to the Press.
- Malky MacKay joined Norwich City on what was at first thought to be a loan for three months but turned out to be a full move for £350k agreeing a three year deal.
- Celtic plc became a full listed company on the Stock Exchange. The club's share price surged nearly 18 per cent in value in morning trading, but by the end of the day it had fallen back to 12.7 per cent up at 332.5p from a previous valuation of 295p.
- Rieper was again out with the ankle injury, Phil O’Donnell fell victim again to injury this time with a thigh muscle strain. David Hannah continued as a right back, moved from his holding midfield role for the Rangers game, Brattbakk had recovered from ‘flu, Lambert was back from suspension and McCondichie and new bhoy Riseth made the bench with Kerr and McBride missing out.
Review
After such a decent game against Rangers this was a bit of a slap in the face. Unimaginative, predictable, tired-looking against 11-men-behind-the-ball again. A silent night at Celtic Park.
Teams
Celtic: Gould, Boyd (Annoni, 68), Mahe, Stubbs , Larsson, Burley , Brattbakk, Donnelly (McKinlay, 82), Lambert, Jackson, Hannah (Burchill, 62)
Subs not used: McCondichie, Riseth,
St Johnstone: Main, Dasovic, Kernaghan, O'Neil, O'Boyle (Grant, 57), Kane, McMahon (Griffin, 80), Bollan, McCluskey, Dods, Lowndes (Preston ,23)
Subs not used Whiteford, Ferguson
Scorer: Dasovic (15)
Bookings: Burley, Mahe (Celtic) Bollan, McCluskey (St Johnstone)
Referee: M McCurry (Scotland)
Attendance: 55,889
Articles
- Match Report
Saints prey on sorry Celtic
The Scotsman 24/09/1998
Celtic 0
St Johnstone 1 Dasovic (15)
CELTIC suffered an Old Firm hangover at Parkhead last night as St Johnstone extended their unbeaten start under Sandy Clark to four games with a deserved victory which saw them leap above Celtic to fourth in the Premier League with the hosts dropping to fifth.
After holding one of Europe's most expensively-assembled sides to a 0-0 draw three days previously, Jozef Venglos's team, who have now won just two of their last nine games, succumbed meekly to Nick Dasovic's deflected shot after 15 minutes.
It was a far cry from Ibrox and even further from the last time the Perth team visited in May when Wim Jansen's team claimed the league title.
Vidar Riseth, Venglos' first and only signing, did not even appear from the substitutes bench, when his pace down the left might just have added the extra dimension to lift a 55,000 crowd which was silenced by Dasovic's 15th minute goal and had no reason to pick up its voice after that.
Venglos almost confessed as much when he said: "When they scored they defended with nine behind the ball and we needed to play the ball wide to use our passing qualities. This is our strong point.
"Unfortunately we played too many long balls straight to their defenders and we missed the creative touch and final pass to create scoring chances."
St Johnstone gained strength from the unease in the home support, with Dasovic saying: "Once we scored it went quite dead. We tried to play at that point and bring the ball down. We knew in the second half we would take some pressure but we managed to hang on."
Venglos was only too aware of how the crowd's anxiety was seeping through to his players and appealed to the Celtic following to be more supportive in future when things were going against their favourites.
Celtic's lack of composure was in stark contrast to the Perth side, who claimed their first win at Parkhead since 1971 with a thoroughly professional display in which Alan Kernaghan and Darren Dods were particularly impressive.
While St Johnstone were unchanged from their weekend win, the hard nature of the Rangers game claimed two casualties. Phil O'Donnell aggravated a thigh strain while Danish defender Marc Rieper's nagging ankle problem again re-emerged, allowing Paul Lambert, returning from suspension, and Harald Brattbakk, recovered from a virus, to start the game.
With Rieper missing, Tom Boyd slotted into the centre of defence, while David Hannah moved to right back after passing a late fitness test on his shoulder.
Craig Burley showed early intent with two long-range shots which flew wide in the opening minutes but for all that Celtic enjoyed the greater possession in the first exchanges, they were to be stunned when Saints took a 15th minute lead.
On a rare venture into the hosts' half, John O'Neil was clattered by Burley just outside the box and Paul Kane rolled the resulting free kick to Dasovic. The Canadian's left-foot shot was then deflected into the net. It was a criminally simple goal to concede after bravely defying the more gifted Rangers side so valiantly for 90 minutes only three days previously.
St Johnstone were to suffer a serious blow just five minutes later, however, when Nathan Lowndes, the gangly former Watford striker who has made such an impression with three goals in Clarke's opening three games, was nursed from the field after a clash of heads to be replaced by Allan Preston.
Henrik Larsson headed over from a Stephane Mahe cross and Alan Stubbs cracked a shot wide. But the increasing desperation of the home support was demonstrated by the frenetic volume of a penalty appeal after 40 minutes when a clumsy attempt to head clear by Gerry McMahon saw him collide with Celtic's left-back before they both fell to earth.
The second period began just as frustratingly for Celtic but at least Alan Main was finally called upon to make a serious save after 52 minutes.
For all their possession, Celtic failed to create very much more and ten minutes later Venglos responded by replacing Hannah with Mark Burchill, who formed a trident attack alongside Harald Brattbakk and Darren Jackson, with Larsson dropping behind to create. Lambert screened the three-man defence.
St Johnstone, however, were to create the next best chances to score. After 69 minutes, Paul Kane unleashed a 25-yard drive which thudded back off Jonathan Gould's bar only for O'Neil to screw the rebound wide. Burley was booked in the aftermath of that incident for what appeared to be dissent.
The best late chance fell to Brattbakk in the 86th-minute when he powered a Larsson free-kick goalwards from five yards but Celtic, in the only parallel to their Ibrox showing, were again denied by a brilliant late save, this time from Main.
But holding Rangers at Ibrox is one thing, losing at home to St Johnstone for the first time in 27 years is quite another.
Early Table after 7 games
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Rangers | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 12 |
| Kilmarnock | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 12 |
| Hearts | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 11 |
| St Johnstone | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 11 |
| Celtic | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 9 |
| Aberdeen | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| Motherwell | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 9 |
| Dunfermline | 7 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 8 |
| Dundee | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 5 |
| Dundee Utd | 7 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 4 |
- Manager Interview
"After the Rangers game we were looking for a better result and a better performance but this happened.
"We played so much of the game in the centre of the park which was a crowded space. We didn't play out on the flanks so much and it made it easier for them to defend.
"We should have played wider with more passing but we ended up playing the long ball game.
"People ask why I didn't play Vidar but I felt that he would do better to sit and watch and see how we play before he is involved.
"It is my decision and I felt it was the right one. I feel that the supporters can be a little impatient and I respect them, I am not complaining, but the players do need their support.
"However we didn't play enough passes, this is our strong point and we didn't use it.
"We are still missing players like Jackie McNamara and Morten Wieghorst and they are valuable to us.
"Expectations are high, I know that and I am trying to fulfil the spectators wishes. I know I can't change the result but I am not afraid to take responsibility for it."
Pictures
Stats
| Celtic | St Johnstone | |
| Bookings | 2 | 2 |
| Fouls | 9 | 13 |
| Shots on Target | 3 | 2 |
| Corners | 12 | 1 |
| Offside | 2 | 1 |