| Match Pictures | Matches: 1998 – 1999 | 1998-1999 Pictures |
_Trivia
- Mahe was back from suspension, only to get a red card in this match and a further 1 game suspension.
- Having signed Moravcik the club were looking to finalise the signing of Viduka but Croatia Zagreb were proving hard to pin down and there appeared to be a series of agents through which payment had to be made.
- The Record and Sunday Mail ran a story that John Spencer had been headed to Celtic Park only for the move to be vetoed by Venglos. Spencer’s agent stated that he had had no contact from Celtic, indicating more made-up garbage by “Scotland’s favourite paper”.
- Marc Rieper looked like facing a lengthy lay-off of up to three months following his ankle surgery.
- Paul Lambert and Jock Brown’s personal spat, as illustrated in Lambert’s recently published autobiography, reached board room level. The two failed to reach any kind of agreement in a personal meeting. Brown complained that the dispute was affecting the way he and the team went about their work.
- Burley picked up a groin strain and was subbed. Though he was suspended from the next tie against FC Zurich his presence would be sorely missed in the team in subsequent league games.
Review
A fairly disastrous and poor 2-0 loss which showed the importance of Rieper-Stubbs central defense. Mahe’s sending off failed to help the weaknesses in the defense and hapless Harald up front seemed to be unable to hit a barn door from point blank range. Killie closed down McNamara and McKinlay and the passes stopped arriving up front.The loss put Celtic third in the league, seven points behind Rangers and Kilmarnock, who were in an early start second place.
Teams
Kilmarnock: Marshall, Montgomerie, McGowne, Holt, Durrant (McCutcheon 84), Mitchell, Mahood, Vareille (Wright 75), Baker, Hamilton, Roberts.
Subs Not Used: Innes, Burke, Strain.
Goals: Roberts 55, Mitchell 70.
Celtic: Gould, Boyd , Mahe, McNamara, Larsson, Burley (O’Donnell 22), Brattbakk (Burchill 72), Donnelly, Lambert, McKinlay, Riseth.
Subs Not Used: Jackson, Hannah, McCondichie.
Bookings: Durrant, Mahood, Roberts, Vareille (Kilmarnock) Boyd, Mahe, Lambert (Celtic)
Sent Off: Mahe (89)
Ref: J Rowbotham (Kirkcaldy).
Att: 16,695
Articles
- Match Report
Pictures
Stats
| Kilmarnock | Celtic | |
| Bookings | 4 | 3 |
| Red Cards | 0 | 1 |
| Fouls | 12 | 18 |
| Shots on Target | 5 | 5 |
| Corners | 3 | 9 |
| Offside | 4 | 3 |
Articles
Durrant relishes role as consummate craftsman
Scotland on Sunday 01/11/1998
Kilmarnock 2 Celtic 0
IT’S that time of the year for dressing up, and pretending to be someone else. In Celtic’s case, it’s wearing the disguise of champions, but for Kilmarnock the clothes of the country bumpkin are equally inadequate.
Bobby Williamson plays the role of the provincial really well. Rarely does the Rugby Park manager get caught up in the hype, and even after this pulsating victory, he remained deadpan despite the fact that those wonderful goals from Mark Roberts and Ally Mitchell had everyone else’s blood coursing faster.
It’s a subtle form of psychology, probably for the sake of Williamson’s players, but Kilmarnock’s cover has been well and truly blown. They, rather than Celtic, look the side most likely to stay with Rangers in the title race.
Kilmarnock have beaten Celtic before, with considerable regularity. But this time, the prize was greater. When two challengers meet, the losers always suffer greater damage to morale.
This morning, Celtic have to look to the widening gap, as they trail Rangers by seven; for Kilmarnock, the difference with the other half of the Old Firm is a solitary point.
Just to add to Celtic’s problems, Stephane Mahe was sent off in the 89th minute after picking up his second caution in a game strewn with eight bookings, one of which was Paul Lambert whose disciplinary points total means that he will miss the match with Rangers this month.
Guisin’ they call it in Glasgow, but Harald Brattbakk is probably being called far more hurtful things right now. The Norwegian is masquerading as a striker: maybe he always has been, but there is no doubt that his profligacy has worn down Celtic supporters.
They have probably never howled more than they did in the 63rd minute, the pivotal moment of this game. Celtic, chasing an equaliser after Roberts had put Kilmarnock ahead eight minutes earlier, had a golden chance for Brattbakk to mock his doubters and kill suspicions about his ability. As he and Henrik Larsson ran through on Gordon Marshall’s goal, with only Ray Montgomerie there to protect his goal, the odds looked stacked in Brattbakk’s favour. But the nervous player neither shot nor set up his Scandinavian colleague. He delegated responsibility for finishing to Larsson, but couldn’t give a proper pass.
Celtic were duly punished. Two minutes later, Mitchell showed Brattbakk how it was done, and killed Josef Venglos’s side with deadly efficiency.
The reality was that Celtic did not deserve a point. Kilmarnock were hungrier, and fought with a determination that their opponents lacked.
In Ian Durrant, they had a man of consummate craft, who increasingly looks capable of influencing this season’s events. Durrant seems to reserve his best form for Celtic, as his display at Parkhead in September was only marginally behind this one.
The midfielder should have seen his side two goals in front after just eight minutes in what was a frenetic, enjoyable opening spell. Gary Holt carved out an opening in the fifth minute with a reverse pass into the path of Jerome Vareille. The French striker controlled the ball on his chest, but under pressure from defenders, he shot just wide.
Then Durrant fed a wonderful ball to Martin Baker, but the full-back elected to shoot instead of delivering the cutback that the former Rangers’ player was screaming for, and his raking shot across the face of the goal missed the target by inches.
Craig Burley and Simon Donnelly tested Marshall with shots before Burley had to limp off in the 22nd minute, plagued by a muscle pull.
By now the contest had revealed the other side of such a high-octane pace, one which was truly nasty. Tom Boyd, who had earlier taken an elbow in the face from Roberts, became the first yellow card after meting out a crunching piece of retaliation. Lambert and Vareille quickly followed, as did Mahood, Mahe, Durrant, and McNamara in the second half.
Kilmarnock deservedly broke the deadlock in the 55th minute with a wonderful goal which was carved out by Durrant, who supplied Mitchell with the ideal ball for the winger to whip in a cross. Possibly Jonathan Gould should have gone for it, but Roberts did not hesitate and he got between two defenders to glance a header into the far corner of the net.
Then, after that incredible Brattbakk cameo, Mitchell finished the game off. Durrant was again involved, flighting in a free-kick which Celtic did not defend properly. Holt collected the loose ball, and laid it back into the path of Mitchell, whose low, left-foot shot screamed into the net from 18 yards.
Williamson summed up simply: “The players worked hard for each other, and we deserved to win. There is now competition for places here.”
- Manager Interview
“I am not making any complaint. Every coach has to live with pressure. We have to work hard and hopefully things will be better.
“Obviously we know results are not good enough. Performance-wise there was plenty of battle in our game.
“The team tried good combination play and worked hard for each other. When they scored we had been in control.
“Of course Kilmarnock are a good team. After they scored it was very difficult and their first goal really was the turning point.
“But if you do not score it is the most important part of the game. I am not blaming any players, but we lost a goal which changed the whole pattern of the game.