Henchoz, Stephane

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Full name: Stephane Henchoz
Born: 7 September 1974
Birthplace: Billens, Switzerland
Signed: 28 Jan 2005 (loan)
Left: 27 July 2005
Position: Defender, Central Defender
Debut: Dunfermline 0-3 Celtic, Scottish Cup, 6 Feb 2005
Internationals: Switzerland
International Caps: 72 (None with Celtic)
International Goals: 0

Biog

Celtic signed defender Stephane Henchoz on a loan deal from Liverpool in January 2005.

The Swiss international centre-half signed on at Parkhead until the end of the season after also holding talks with Rangers about a possible switch to Ibrox. At 30-years-old the former Blackburn man was viewed as having the quality and experience to push Bobo Balde and Stan Varga for a first team starting spot.

But after making his debut in a 3-0 Scottish Cup win at Dunfermline on February 6th, Henchoz failed to make a notable impact and spent the rest of the season mostly warming the bench.

He hardly covered himself in glory at Celtic, and most were astonished by his lack of pace, with many supporters regarding him as a carthorse on the pitch. His most notable game was the 2-0 defeat to Hearts at home where he was partly the scapegoat for an unexpected comprehensive defeat. For the second goal, he achieved the following calamity in the match: he kept a speculative ball in play (instead of heading it out), falling out of the pitch, and then setting up said speculative ball into path of oncoming Hearts’ player which duly lead to a goal. Unsurprisingly, he was subbed off in the match having looked very uncomfortable indeed. For many it sealed his fate at the club.

A lack of starts meant the player was not willing to discuss the possibility of a permanent move (not that anyone was actually demanding it) and he eventually returned to Liverpool before signing on for Wigan. In fairness, on the management side, Celtic weren’t at their best in this season with Martin O’Neill mostly absent at the club due to personal reasons, and the first team’s performanced suffered for it. However, that’s no excuse for Henchoz as he came from Liverpool who were then a major side and should have been experienced enough to handle anything without much need of a coach’s assistance.

He would return eventually to Blackburn before retiring from play in 2008.

It was a failed loan move, and wasn’t to be the last. This was to set the general mould for many loan moves in years to come sadly. A good loan signing is a difficult thing as Celtic were to learn over the next decade.

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