| Match Pictures | Matches: 1999 – 2000 | 1999-2000 Pictures |
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Trivia
- Peter Grant then at Norwich City reached an agreement with the Norfolk club and terminate his playing contract there. He was hoping to come north of the border for a coaching job.
- Chris McCart joined as a Youth Development Coach. He would work with all the squads from the U-12’s to U-16’s assisting George Adams and Drew Todd.
- Henry Smith the ex-Hearts goalkeeper was drafted in as a stand-in goalkeeping coach on 5/8/99. Smith was employed on the playing/coaching staff of Ayr Utd but released to work part time for two days per week at Celtic Park with the goalkeepers at Celtic. The situation with Terry Gennoe wasn’t apparently fixed and Barnes said that Smith might take the post permanently.
- The new strip was launched and gave rise to massive queues outside the superstore at the ground.
- Petrov was introduced to the press. It came out that he would have an interpreter in the dressing room (Mitko Petrov – no relation – from Edinburgh) to pass on any instructions from John Barnes until his English improved.
- The team showed no changes from the one that had beaten Aberdeen 5-0 on the opening game of the season.
- According to an announcement this was the largest crowd at a League fixture this decade.
Review
A good win against a side that had given the Bhoys problems the previous season. St Johnstone played 4-5-1 and came to defend and hit on the break and never got the chance. Viduka’s cheeky back heel for the second.
Teams
Celtic: Gould, Mjallby, Tebily, Boyd, Riseth, Berkovic, Lambert, Wieghorst (Burley 63), Moravcik (Petta 70), Larsson, Viduka.
Subs Not Used: Kerr, Healy, Burchill.
Goals: Mjallby 6, Viduka 28, Wieghorst 50.
St Johnstone: Main, McQuillan, Dasovic, Weir, Simao, O'Neil (Lowndes 57), Kane (Lauchlan 78), Bollan, O'Halloran, McBride (Griffin 46), Dods.
Subs Not Used: Ferguson, McCluskey.
Ref: Michael McCurry (Scotland).
Att: 60,253
Articles
- Match Report
Moravcik preys on Saints
Scotland on Sunday 08/08/1999
By Alan Taylor AT CELTIC PARK
Celtic3 St Johnstone0
FORM, like fame and fashion, is a fickle thing. Last season, St Johnstone humiliated Celtic on no fewer than three of their four encounters, and in so doing gifted the Premier League to Rangers. On that record most neutrals would at least have thought that the Perth side were in with a shout yesterday at Parkhead but the opening games of the new season suggested otherwise, Saints suffering grievously at home to Hearts while Celtic steam-rollered Aberdeen at Pittodrie last Sunday.
And so it proved. Celtic, under smooth-talking, hip-looking John Barnes, are as cool as Coltrane – John, not Robbie -while St Johnstone wreak of stale ideas, second-rate players and a sense of doom. From the outset, Sandy Clark's men were in retreat as Celtic's rampaging troops came at them in waves. Prompted by the darting diminutive figure of Eyal Berkovic, displaying why he is Scotland's most expensive signing, Celtic enjoyed long passages of uninterrupted possession. With Paul Lambert and Morten Wieghorst linking well, Lubomir Moravcik jockeying for position and looking for openings, and Henrik Larsson and Mark Viduka seeming lively upfront it was only a matter of time before St Johnstone's porous defence was breached.
The breakthrough came in the eighth minute when Larsson turned Gary Bollan to win a corner. An outswinger from Moravcik wasn't cleared and fell at the feet of Johan Mjallby. The tall, blond Swedish centre-back could barely believe his luck as he bashed the ball past Alan Main.
It was the signal for Celtic to turn up the heat. Berkovic took command of the midfield, prompting and prodding and running at pace at the leaden St Johnstone back four. When Viduka was fouled 30 yards out, Larsson cracked a shot past the post. It merely prolonged the inevitable, however. A creamy move involving Moravcik, Berkovic and Larsson, ended with Viduka pouncing on the loose ball in a crowded box to backheel it into the net.
It was not until past the half-hour mark when Saints finally had their first attempt on goal, a solid free-kick by Bollan which was easily gathered by Jonathan Gould. But it was a mere moment's respite in a tortuous afternoon for Saints. With Moravcik and Berkovic offering themselves at every turn to take charge of proceedings, it seemed that against a Perth team constantly on the back foot, a barrowload of goals would result. What little there was in the way of resistance from Saints came from the energetic Miguel Simao and John O'Neil.
The second half mirrored the first, the sole interval change coming from St Johnstone, Danny Griffin resuming in the place of John Paul McBride. Any thought however that this might lead to a cut in the deficit was soon dispelled when Wieghorst rose like a jump jet to meet a well-directed Moravcik free kick and flight a powerful header past the despairing Main. And that was about that.
Throughout, Moravcik, in particular, was a joy to behold, a tanner ba' player of the old school, turning poor John McQuillan so many times he must have left him dizzy.
With the intention perhaps of putting the Saints defender out of his agony, Barnes took off Moravcik with 25 minutes left. The crowd of over 60,000 – the highest apparently for a club game in Britain this decade – rose as one to bid the little Slovakian a fond adieu. In his stead came Bobby Petta and he slotted into the Celtic midfield like a missing tile on a roof. Five minutes earlier, Craig Burley had replaced Wieghorst to the same effect.
But by now it felt like a training match with Olivier Tebily controlling the game at the back for Celtic, Berkovic constantly feeding Larsson who must have been in a fussy mood given the number of chances he spurned and Viduka roughing up Darren Dods, Jim Weir and anyone else who dared to block his path to goal.
There will undoubtedly be tougher days ahead when Barnes's stylish crew will have to demonstrate the resolve and skill against meatier opponents who will not capitulate so easily.
But Celtic are nothing if not prepared: at half-time they displayed what they have in reserve when latest signing Stilian Petrov, the Bulgarian International purchased for 3.5 million was introduced to an ecstatic crowd at half-time. It emphasised yet again the gulf between wealth and poverty in Scotland's top division.
As F Scott Fitzgerald once said, the rich are different from the rest of us, and how. No-one would concur with that more than Saints manager Sandy Clark who afterwards acknowledged the difference in quality between his side and the Parkhead thoroughbreds. For him and his stolid charges a long hard trying season lies ahead. Barnes pronounced himself pleased, though he rightly counselled against getting carried away. Would he have preferred that his defence had had a sterner test? No, he said displaying his usual drollery, he would be happy to go through the whole season without it coming under strain. He can dream on.
Still, roll on Cwmbran Town in the UEFA Cup on Thursday.
- Manager Interview
John Barnes post match:
“I would be happy if we could go through the season without our defense being tested.
“What can we do? Are we to give the opposition some chances on a plate?
“It’s not a downside for us not being tested because it means we are on top.
"Overall I am happy the way things have gone in our first two matches. I just hope our fans will be patient when we do not score early in a match. I hope they won't get frustrated, because the way we play the chances will come and it doesn't matter whether we score early in the game or in the later stages. We won't be changing the way we play, because I believe this is the right way to do it.
"But while we are delighted at the start we have made, there is no way we will get carried away. After all it is just two matches and we will face stiffer tests along the way."
(On Moravcik) "Impressed? I am impressed and happy when I watch him training. He is almost as old as me and is a fantastic player."
Lubo Moravcik:
"When I started playing I played slightly wider than I do now, so crossing the ball is a natural part of my game.
"I do play to the system, even if at times it looks as if I am doing my own thing.
"Whatever I do on the field is to try to benefit the team – I am not doing it just to amuse myself."
"Before deciding anything about my future I want to see how my family settles here. I must see that they are happy."
Sandy Clark, St Johnstone manager:
"You've got to give Celtic credit – they are a very talented side.
"Their heavy investment during the summer showed, and with other players ready to come in I am very impressed by them.
"Let's face it, the championship is going to be won by a team from Glasgow. There is Celtic and Rangers – don't ask me who is going to win – and the other eight are in a league of their own.
"That's why I was more disappointed when we lost 4-1 to Hearts in our opening match. These are the games from which we must take points.
"When you come to Parkhead you do two things – work hard, and cross your fingers that you get a break. If you come here and try to attack them they will hammer you. Today we lost two goals at set-pieces and for the middle goal our keeper, Alan Main, dropped the ball. You don't get away with that here."
Pictures
Stats
| Celtic | St Johnstone | |
| Bookings | 0 | 0 |
| Fouls | 14 | 10 |
| Shots on Target | 6 | 1 |
| Corners | 4 | 3 |
| Offside | 0 | 1 |