| Match Pictures | Matches: 1997 – 1998 | 1997-98 Pictures |
Trivia
- Stephane Mahe was signed in time for the UEFA deadline. Moves were still progressing for Marc Rieper and James Debbah. Szabolcs Safar, the Hungarian goalkeeper who had been on trial was let go and he joined Austria Salzburg.
- Jock Brown flew out to Lisbon to check on the condition of Jorge Cadete. Sheffield Wednesday made a fresh bid of £4.00million for Paolo di Canio. The club said that he was not for sale.
- In the draw for the UEFA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round, Celtic were paired with Austrian club FC Tirol.
- Celtic signed goalkeeper Jonathon Gould for £20,000 from Bradford City on 1/8/97. He was given a contract to the end of the season.
- This was Larsson’s infamous debut when he came on as a sub and with his first touch of the ball gave it away to Charnley who scored.
Review
The famous debut for Larsson. Celtic still yet to gel under Jansen and needed more time.
Match is famous mostly for Larssongiving the ball away with his first touch to Chic Charnley who went on to score. How history was to treat Larssonlightly after this.
Wim Jansen despite his disappointment in the result, backed his players especially Larsson.
Chi Charnley is a big Celtic fan, and really was a talented playerwho could or should have played for Celtic.In any case, he got to live off this moment at many Celtic dinners as a speaker. Fair dues.
Celtic still went on to win the league, and Larsson was to be a hero.
Teams
Hibernian (4-4-2):
Gottskalksson; W Miller, Hughes, Welsh, Boco; Rougier, McGinlay, Charnley, Dow; Power (G Miller 82), Crawford (Tosh 89).
Sub not used: Grant.
Scorers: Power (23), Charnley (75)
Yellow cards: Hughes, Crawford, Rougier (Hibs);
Celtic (5-4-1):
Marshall; McNamara, Mackay, Stubbs, Boyd, McKinlay (Wieghorst, 81); Donnelly, Jackson, Burley, Thom (Larsson 57); Johnson.
Sub not used: Hannah.
Scorer: MacKay (28)
Yellow cards: Burley, Boyd (Celtic).
Referee: W Young (Clarkston).
Attendance: 13,051.
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
KDSThread
- Memories of the game (2016): http://kerrydalestreet.co.uk/topic/11005025/1/?x=50
Stats
| Hibernian | Celtic | |
| Bookings | 3 | 2 |
| Fouls | 20 | 13 |
| Shots on Target | 4 | 6 |
| Corners | 3 | 3 |
| Offside | 2 | 7 |
Charnley carves up Celtic
The Scotsman 04/08/1997
Hibernian 2 Power 24, Charnley 75
Celtic 1 Mackay 29
THE season has arrived too soon for Celtic. That fact was inescapable at Easter Road yesterday as this hastily pieced-together team had all of their flaws exposed to a nationwide television audience.
So Rangers are already better off without playing a game but if this is going to develop into the two-horse race that everyone expects then teams like Hibs are at least going to have some say.
To dwell on an ordinary Celtic performance would be doing Hibs an injustice. This win was richly deserved and the margin of victory could have been greater as they struck woodwork twice.
It was clear from the outset that they were the hungrier side and Celtic were rather rocked on their heels by the passion that Hibs brought into the game. Free from the shackles of relegation which had restricted them in the second half of last season, this was football with a smile on its face.
No-one exemplified it more than Chic Charnley. Not only did he contribute the winning goal with 15 minutes remaining but he was the outstanding player afield. Celtic's luminous shirts always make them difficult to miss but it was the ageing Hibs midfield player who shone like a beacon.
It looked as if the game was all a childish prank for the 34-year-old. He sold more dummies than Mothercare and, in a frantic match, always had time on the ball to settle Hibs down.
He passed with accuracy, defended with diligence and even had the audacity to try a shot at goal from inside his own half in the second-half.
For all of the millions spent in assembling this Celtic team, there was no-one to touch Charnley yesterday.
Tony Rougier provided the cross for Hibs' first goal as he curled the ball over from the left and, with Marshall hesitating, the unattended Lee Power stabbed the ball into the net almost apologetically.
This lead was to last just five minutes as Malky Mackay managed to get his head to a Simon Donnelly corner and steer the ball into the net despite the attentions of Willie Miller on the line.
Darren Jackson had a chance to put Celtic ahead after Andreas Thom had cleverly opened up the Hibs defence but the shot was poor and brought hoots of derision from the home support. They had come to jeer Jackson but left cheering Charnley.
It was the Hibs man who almost brought the house down with a left-foot shot from 35 yards which caught Marshall off his line but thumped back into play off the goal-frame.
Brian Welsh should have scored when he missed a simple header after another Charnley cross and then Steve Crawford, who had not made much impression until then, crafted an opening for himself, only to see his final shot strike both the crossbar and the post.
Celtic had chances too. Donnelly somehow scooped the ball over from eight yards with only Olafur Gottskalksson to beat and then Jackson beat the Icelandic goalkeeper only to see Welsh hack his shot away.
The supreme irony for Celtic came when their ace card turned out to be a joker. Henrik Larsson had been left on the bench for fitness reasons and the Swede struggled with the pace of the game when he came on. He was then guilty of misplacing a pass to Charnley, who gobbled it up and set his sights before killing off Celtic with a 20-yard shot. It was the perfect end to a perfect day for him.
- Manager Interview
Wim Jansen, post match:
We lost the ball too much especially in midfield. They fought for everything and deserved to win the game.
“The pace of the match did not surprise me, but I tried to get my players to slow it down and not play at the same speed as their opponents, but when they did that, they lost the ball and that was no good.”
“What happened with Henrik was just part of football. He wishes he could change it but he’ll get over it.
“As a team we have to work at making chances and while you don’t like to lose you can learn from this for the next game.”
Jim Duffy, Hibernian manager, on Chic Charnley:
"I've been singing his virtues for a while now. When he's playing like that he's a joy to watch – an entertainer.
"I've had plenty of stick for signing him but I know what he can do – his appetite for the game is second to none.
"Okay he doesn't live like a monk but his attitude is superb. I'd rather have one or two Chic Charnleys in my side than one or two others I can think of."
"I'm delighted with the victory and the manner in which we achieved it.
"I thought we played well when we had the ball and worked hard when we didn't. Overall I couldn't ask for more. Our new guys, Olafur Gottskalksson, Jean-Marc Boco, Stevie Crawford and Tony Rougier have got off to a good start because there's always questions asked about the new players you've brought in. Still it's worked in one game but they will only be judged a success if it works in the next 30.
Debut Days
http://celticunderground.net/debut-days-hemrik-larsson/
AUGUST 3RD 1997 HIBS 2-1 CELTIC
In the summer of 1997 Celtic were in the business of searching for a new manager (although head coach was to be the official title) and it’s believed that both Bobby Robson and Artur Jorge were both in discussion with the Celtic board before they appointed Wim Jansen.
Jansen was well known to older Celtic fans who recalled him as a vital part of the Feyenoord side which had defeated Celtic in the 1970 European Cup final in the San Siro stadium in Milan. He had previously enjoyed some success with Feyenoord as manager, although the Scottish press chose to concentrate more on the mediocre spell he had recently had in Japan with Hiroshima.
Celtic’s new Dutch manager had inherited a squad who had a lot of issues and as the team travelled to Easter Road for their first league game, they did so without their two biggest assets, Jorge Cadete and Paolo Di Canio, who were both in dispute with the club and would ultimately move to pastures new in the weeks to come.
Jansen had moved quickly to secure the new signings of Craig Burley, Darren Jackson and Henrik Larsson who were all listed to play, with Larsson on the bench as he was deemed not to be fully match fit. The pressure on Celtic was now huge as Rangers had just emulated Celtic’s nine in a row league titles record and were now spending massively in their quest for ten in a row.
Hibs opened well and took the lead in 23 minutes when Lee Power scored from close range. Celtic could not get going and the mercurial Chic Charnley was enjoying the occasion. He was clearly the best player on view, cracking a 35 yard shot off the Celtic crossbar in the process.
Celtic rallied slightly and equalised before half time when Malky Mackay scored, heading in a corner from Simon Donnelly. Despite equalising, Jansen’s new Celts never looked convincing and it was clear that this side was going to take some time to settle in.
In the second half Jansen brought on Henrik Larsson for the ineffectual Andreas Thom in an attempt to spruce up his attack. The Celtic fans had their first sight of their new Swedish import and they gave Larsson a loud welcome as the new Celt cut a unique figure on the field of play, with his long, dreadlocked hair.
Larsson’s only contribution on the day was to be a memorable one but not for the best of reasons. In 75 minutes he misplaced a pass at the edge of his own area and presented Chic Charnley with an ideal opportunity to score with a terrific shot from 20 yards.
Charnley was entitled to celebrate his goal, especially as Celtic had declined to sign him on more than one occasion in the recent past and he became Scottish football’s biggest talking point for several weeks afterwards with this goal which was the winner on the day.
This was a humbling experience for Henrik Larsson, on a day that he would have been desperate to impress the Celtic supporters. History tells us that he then went on to become the greatest Celt of modern times but no one could have foresaw what was ahead of Larsson and Celtic on this dull, miserable day in Edinburgh.
Like that other great Celtic number 7, Jimmy Johnstone, Henrik was to endure a miserable debut but would then go on to enjoy massive individual and collective success during his duration at Celtic Park.
No one was to appreciate it at the time but Celtic fans were to discover in the weeks and months ahead, that they were truly in the presence of greatness.