DVD – Green & Whitewash

Celtic Multimedia | Media | About Celtic

Title: Green & Whitewash
Release Date:2004
Review By: Kevtic July 21st 2010

Green & Whitewash Six wins in a row against the hun with five over one season, it actually became a magnificent seven as we won the first league game of 2005 as well. Good times to be a tim. In the space of thirteen months between April 2003 to May 2004 it was ten goals for and only two against in Celtic's best run against the hun for over 30 years. No narration on this DVD just a collection of highlights.

Game 1 is Beachball Sunday at Ibrox a few days after beating Boavista to reach the UEFA Cup final. Clearly Celtic fans weren't going to rub their rival's noses in it and watching this DVD you'd think they didn't. No footage of the beachball pitch invasion as the teams came out. The one thing everyone remembers about this game and only a passing reference is made. As for the game itself Celtic run out comfortable 2-1 winners with goals from Thompson and Hartson. Watch out for Numan patting Thompson on the back as he runs up to score his penalty. Would have been more but Klos made one fantastic save from the KOKs after a great move between Agathe and Sutton.

Game 2 is the first league encounter in the 2003/04 season at Ibrox. Such greats as Emerson and Capucho in the hun's line up. This one is settled a minute into the 2nd half when a McNamara ball is knocked on by Hartson to Larsson and Hartson continues his run to receive the return pass. His shot takes a helpful deflection and loops over Klos into the net off the underside of the bar. This was the game where Sutton was pushed into defensive duties as injuries and suspensions had left the defence a little short. Sutton strolled it.

Game 3 was the 3-0 demolition at new year at Celtic Park. First goal is Petrov's diving header that hits both posts before crossing the line. Craig Moore is his usual animal self and commits enough assaults to be red carded twice but somehow manages to stay on the park. Varga grabs number 2 after a Bobo knock back across goal from a corner and the icing on the cake was Thompson's sensational 30 yard free kick into the top corner. The foul leading up to this should have seen a red for Lovenkrands. The victory was Celtic's 18th league win on the trot and virtually secured the title despite it only being the beginning of January.

Game 4 The game that effectively finished the hun's season as a Larsson strike in the 2nd half after a penalty box scramble ended their interest in the Scottish Cup. Surprisingly it is Henrik's first goal in this sequence of wins. Celtic completely dominated this game and it should have been 4 or 5. Agathe's pace was devastating and you forget how fast he really was. The ability to give a defender 5 yards of a start and still overtake them. Also noticeable in this game is how wound up Thompson makes Ricksen. An early confrontation on the touchline sees Thommo place Ricksen neatly into his back pocket.

Game 5 Beachball Sunday – the return. After the small matter of knocking Barcelona out of the UEFA Cup in the Nou Camp it's back to Ibrox to extinguish the very small flickering flame of title ambitions that the hun still harboured. Despite the exertions of Barca an early header from Larsson settles the Celtic nerves. Moore once again gets away with an assault, this time on Pearson. Marshall continues his heroics from the Barca game with a stunning near post stop from team mate Varga before clawing a net bound Lovenkrands header away a few mins later. In the 2nd half the calm head of Thompson picks up a loose ball in the box and takes a touch away from Klos before finding the net with his right foot shot. The 2nd time he'd scored at Ibrox with his right. Even rarer than a right foot Thompson goal is a yellow card for Moore but he does finally get one in this game. The huns do get a goal back but never look like equalising and answers on a postcard how Varga failed to score from 3 yards out. Still it didn't matter as Celtic had win no 4 over the hun for the season.

Game 6 Sutton's chip. That's all you really need to say about this game. Celtic should have had this wrapped up long before the 92nd minute but in many ways it made victory all the sweeter. As the hun hordes were celebrating a draw Stephen Thompson chickened out of a challenge with Marshall and Celtic had a goal kick. The game was all but over and the referee was checking his watch. The huns were singing 'We love you rangers, we do' as they sensed they'd survived and were going home with a point and denying Celtic a clean sweep of league wins and a 6th straight win overall.

Let us just take a second or two to enjoy the moment again. Marshall launches his bye kick up the park to just inside the hun's half. Sutton, as always, wins his aerial battle and knocks it on to Henke and continues his run to receive the return pass from the KOKs. He barely breaks stride as he heads towards goal. He swats aside De Boer like an irritating fly before the most delicate of chips from 25 yards arcs in slow motion over Klos before nestling in the net. Klos doesn't even look behind him as he knows where the ball is settling. It takes the Celtic fans a few moments to realise what has happened but once they do they celebrate as if it was a league winner. Sutton's famous celebration adorns the cover of the DVD and was a fantastic moment and a great bit of skill. There was still one other notable moment left in this game. As Celtic retained possession after the kick off a foul was awarded on the touchline. Watch at the bottom of the screen as Thompson does the famous knock knock motion to Ricksen who goes even more bonkers than he already was. I remember the walk back into the city centre that day was one of celebration as we had totally dominated the hun all season and we were miles ahead of them in every dept. Of course this kind of domination doesn't last for ever but it was a sweet moment that we had waited many years to taste. Hopefully we don't have to wait to long to saviour these kind of moments again.

Product Details

Production year 2004
Running Time 90 mins
DVD Region 2
Release date 06/09/2004
Number of discs 1
Catalogue No. CEL008
Studio – John Williams Productions