retired_bbcarr

November 2001

After the disappointment of merely drawing at Tynecastle, we faced Dundee United back on home turf. And the response, though not entirely convincing, was, at least, an improvement on the excuse for a performance given in Edinburgh. We got at the visitors early, but Tony Bullock was up to the task as he batted away three good chances. It took until the 34th minute before we broke the deadlock, and even then it fell to one of our defenders to show the forwards how to do it. Michael Stewart sent over a corner kick, and the much maligned Stan Varga rose high to head home past Bullock. Once we had taken the lead, it never looked like we would relinquish it, and just moments after the break we effectively sealed the points when Chris Sutton headed home from Alan Thompson's free kick.

The win had given us good confidence going into the Basel game at Celtic Park, knowing that just a point would put us into the third round of the UEFA Cup. But we were never going to settle, and merely play for a point, we wanted to bow out of the competition in style. And that was exactly what we did. Admittedly, we were helped when César Carignano headbutted Darren Mackie in the 25th minute, leaving referee Nikolay Frolov no choice but to send him for an early bath. Stephen Pearson pinged the resultant free kick off the wall, but Varga was on hand to make his personal tally two in two games by slamming in the loose ball from the edge of the area. And man of the match Varga gave the pass which put Lambert away to net our second, and was again the creator for the goal which sealed the game on half time, scored by Craig Beattie. Five minutes into the second period, Ferguson's knock down was toe poked in by Pearson, and just after the hour Mackie completed the rout by tapping in a rebound from two yards out. Basel got themselves some consolation by netting in the final moments through Julio Hernan Rossi, but it was most definitely our day. The draw for the UEFA Cup placed us against French side PSG, no doubt a very tought tie.

Juninho resumed full training in time for our visit to Pittodrie, and Stan Varga again proved himself to be the man of the moment. He was ably assisted by eventual man of the match, Shaun Maloney, but Varga was the name our travelling fans were chanting all the way through. In the first sixty seconds of the game, Maloney won a corner which he personally delivered into the box. Varga, like a good central defender should, rose high and made first contact with the ball, sending it creeping inside Ryan Esson's post. Such a good start was hardly something we were going to waste, but it did take time to seal our authority as Aberdeen were in no mood to make it easy. With twenty four minutes of the game left; however, the process which had brought about the first goal was repeated, as Maloney's inswinging corner found Varga's head waiting and the defender's two goal haul was complete. The three points were safe and that was enough as we sat on what we had for the remaining time. The win, coupled with a nice defeat for Rangers, put us six points clear of the 'Gers. With a derby coming up later in the month, it was a nice cushion to have.

Mackie had twisted a knee in the closing moments of his return to face his old club, and the winger was forced out of action for three weeks. Hugh Murray came in to replace him in the starting line-up, and the recruit from St. Mirren put in a perfectly acceptable performance. Indeed, it was he who provided the assist for our first goal against Dundee at Celtic Park. His cross was controlled on the chest of Shaun Maloney before the young striker volleyed a shot home from twelve yards, leaving Mark Peat with little chance of stopping it. Dundee's Mark Fotheringham gave us reason to worry as he eqaulled the scores with just nine minutes left, but Lambert did the captain's job, scoring with a mere six minutes remaining to settle our nerves. And when he passed for Craig Beattie to score in injury time, all worries were gone.

There was good news for the trip to Paris as both McNamara and Laursen passed pre-game fitness tests and were included in the starting line-up. I had, to be honest, hoped for an easier tie to book our place in the post-Christmas rounds of the tournament, playing PSG was a real worry after coming so unstuck in the Champions League. But, i needn't have worried. We performed admirably, and, perhaps even deservingly, sneaked a 1-0 lead for the return leg at Celtic Park. Hugh Murray, keeping his place in the side after impressing against Dundee, went even further in making me happy as he bagged the only goal of the game, pouncing first to bundle a rebound home after Jérôme Alonzo had parried Maloney's shot. The home side pounded our goal in the remaining twenty-odd minutes, and the Parc des Princes crowd got more and more restless as Marshall kept them out. There wasn't a happy Frenchman in the stadium as the sides left the field with us holding the real advantage.

Our final league game of the month saw us travel to Ibrox in a game which proved why it was so important that we had built up a good lead over the Huns in the standings. We were never at the races, and when Piotr Swierczewski opened the scoring on seventeen minutes, we went from bad to worse. Dado Prso and Peter Løvenkrands added efforts before the break, and i'd have been surprised if there was a single Celtic fan still in the stadium when Shaun Maloney pulled one back for us just before the hour. Prso killed off any hopes of a comeback with ten minutes left, before Murray restored a slight bit of pride as he again knocked in a rebound to round off the scoring for the day.

The league cup quarter final against Raith Rovers at Celtic Park was our final game of the month, and i again fielded a young side as i looked to see who was going to be up to the challenge of 1st XI football in the coming years. And the answer, again, was a resounding shout of James Chalmers. It may have taken him until the 109th minute of the game, but the 16 year old was, once more, on the scoresheet, making it two in two appearences for the first team. The game had been tied at 0-0 as the final whistle sounded, but Juninho's ball to Chalmers early in the second period of extra time gave the very young striker the chance to seal a place in the semi final against Gretna, and it was a chance which he readily took, beating Alan Main low to his left.

retired_bbcarr

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * Scottish Premier Division - Saturday 1st December 2001********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2001/2 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Celtic 16 7 0 1 18 5 4 3 1 15 8 36 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Rangers 17 6 2 0 14 5 4 1 4 9 8 33 3rd Kilmarnock 18 5 3 2 12 9 3 3 2 11 9 30 4th Livingston 18 5 1 3 10 9 4 2 3 10 10 30 5th Hibernian 18 4 1 4 7 9 5 1 3 17 13 29 6th Dundee Utd 17 3 4 1 12 8 3 4 2 8 7 26 7th Dundee 18 3 1 5 10 15 3 2 4 12 15 21 8th Motherwell 17 4 3 2 12 8 1 2 5 4 10 20 9th Aberdeen 17 3 2 3 13 16 2 0 7 7 17 17 10th Hearts 17 2 3 3 12 10 2 1 6 14 21 16 11th Dunfermline 17 3 2 4 9 11 0 3 5 3 11 14 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12th Inverness C. Thistle 16 2 2 4 13 12 1 2 5 7 13 13 </pre>

retired_confal2

Nice win at the Parc des Princes :cool:

Still don't understand how you can juggle all those stories, and update them regularly, but keep it up :thup:

retired_bbcarr

cheers, Dave. after losing in Milan and La Coruna i was convinced we'd get shafted in Paris

------------------------------------

December 2001

The final month of the year began with a trip to Easter Road to face Hibs in a league tie. After losing our unbeaten SPL record to them in despressing fashion back in October, i was none too confident about our trip to the capital. When Alan Thompson curled a free kick past Myles Hogarth; however, my mood improved considerably. Hibs had been the better side, and indeed continued to be so after our opener, but at least it gave us something to defend. Not that we were successful in that endeavour. On the stroke of half time Sergio Gonçalo levelled the scores with the final goal of the game, despite the fact that we had the ball in the net twice during the second period (both were harshly, in my opinion, disallowed for offside). So it was certainly two points dropped as far as i was concerned.

The return leg of the UEFA Cup third round awaited us in our next fixture at Celtic Park. The 1-0 lead from Paris, though nice to have, was somewhat precarious, and if PSG played up to their ability, then there was every possibility that my first European adventure would come to a grinding halt before Christmas. But we had no such bad luck on the evening as we outplayed the French side and tripled our aggregate lead before the end of the game. Ricky Gillies bagged our first on the night when he volleyed home Maloney's corner and Pearson killed the tie off after the break when he was put clear by Gillies and rounded Alonzo before slotting the ball home. The games got no easier as we went forth, though, with Ajax being our opposition for round four.

Our winning form was continued into the league for our game against Dunfermline on our own ground. We got off to the perfect start with Paul Lambert hammering home a loose ball in just the second minute of the game. Aiden McGeady had a penalty saved by Jamie Langfield after the Dunfermline 'keeper had brought Lambert down in the area, but just before the half time whistle our lead was doubled when McGeady's corner was headed firmly into the net by Bobo Baldé. Dunfermline played far better in the second half and caused us trouble, but couldn't find their way onto the scoresheet, and Lambert rounded our day off three minutes from time with his second off the day, tapping home from four yards after Ferguson had knocked a Murray cross into his path.

Three days later, thanks to wonderful scheduling from the powers that be, we travelled to East End Park to face Dunfermline in another league game. Lambert again put us in front when he stuck a shot in the top corner after getting on the end of Maloney's free kick. It was soon 2-0 when Gilles' cross was headed in by Darren Mackie. The home side were given hope on the stroke of half time when Noel Hunt halved the gap, and then two minutes after the break, Gary Mason pulled them level. The shock drove us on to higher levels, though as Maloney converted Pearson's cross to re-establish our lead and Lambert sealed the points when he was put clear by a great ball from Craig Beattie.

The bad news from the second Dunfermline game was that Stephen Wright badly damaged his hip and would miss four months of action. The injury Gillies picked up was much less serious, a bruised shin which would keep him out for a mere ten days.

Kilmarnock was our next port of call and we left Rugby Park in very high spirits. Killie defender Shaun Dillon managed to get in the way of a Duncan Ferguson volley which was giong wide and deflect it past his goalkeeper, Alan Combe and into the net. Before half time Lambert hit his tenth league goal of the season, tapping in a rebound from close ranger, and after Hugh Murray had left the field injured, Maloney wrapped up the points with a superb free kick into the top corner of the net. Murray had strained ligaments in his right ankle and added to our injury list, with his name being taken out of the playing equation for a month. Though with the winter break coming up in January, it wouldn't be too disruptive.

Inverness came to Glasgow four days after we dispatched Killie, and the Highland side proved nowhere near as good as when they had claimed a point off us at the Caledonian Stadium earlier in the season. Goalkeeper Michael Fraser put them in a world of trouble when he appeared to have borught down Paul Lambert in the area and was sent off by referee Brian McGarry. TV replays; however, conclusively proved that my captain had put in a dive that any player in Serie A would have been proud off. Beattie didn't mind though, and he put the spot kick firmly past replacement 'keeper Joe Nellis. And we were two up inside twenty minutes when Darren Mackie ended his great solo run with a strong shot past Nellis. We took the foot off the gas until the final ten minutes, when we netted another two. Beattie took Baldé's pass round Nellis to score, and Maloney completed the day when he scored his second free kick in two games.

A home game against Livi was next on the agenda, and it proved to be far more disappointing and frustrating than i could have imagined. Stuart Lovell banged in a wonderful effort in the third minute to put us straight on the back foot, and when Duncan Ferguson was sent off in the 25th minute for arguing a decision with referee John Fleming, we knew our backs were against the wall. Luckily, Alan Thompson spared us the emabarrassment of defeat when he netted a rebound in the second half, but the press were hardly kind in their reports in the Sunday papaers.

Our final game of 2001 was a trip to Tannadice for which Duncan Ferguson was suspended. It didn't matter, though as Beattie put us in front as early as the tenth minute when he curled in a first time shot from Lambert's pass. Beattie was forced off in the 28th minute with a bad bruise on his shin and it disrupted the flow of the game somewhat. The home side got themsevles level in the second half through Jason Scotland's free kick, but three minutes later we were back in front as Mackie converted Pearson's cross. With McNamara also hobbling off injured, we were down to a threadbare side and Dundee United took advantage of that with Andy McLaren making matters all square. We should have sealed all three points in the 87th minute, but Mackie's goal was disallowed for an offence i did not see.

In the days after the Dundee United game, we agreed the bosman signing of Zander Diamond from Aberdeen. The 19 year old defender would join us in June with Aberdeen being compensated to the tune of £350K.

retired_bbcarr

January 2002

Our first game of the New Year was also the last before the winter break. With McNamara, Kennedy, Murray, Beattie and Sutton all missing through injury, Aberdeen certainly fancied their chances at Celtic Park. And they were right to do so. The only goal of the game came in the 14th minute when ex-Celt Neil Lennon made me pay for selling him by firing past Marshall. One player who i was less than happy with afterwards was Duncan Ferguson. His lack of effort had been apparant to all and my assistant, John Robertson, even went so far as to blame the defeat on his attitude. Whatever the reason, it meant that we went into the break behind Rangers.


<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * Scottish Premier Division - Wednesday 2nd January 2002********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2001/2 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Rangers 24 9 3 0 21 7 7 1 4 15 10 52 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Celtic 24 9 1 2 26 7 6 5 1 25 13 51 3rd Dundee Utd 24 7 5 1 28 14 4 5 2 9 7 43 4th Hibernian 24 5 3 4 13 13 6 1 5 24 20 37 5th Livingston 24 5 3 4 12 13 4 3 5 15 17 33 6th Kilmarnock 24 5 3 4 13 14 3 4 5 14 19 31 7th Aberdeen 24 6 3 3 23 22 3 1 8 9 21 31 8th Hearts 24 5 3 4 18 13 3 2 7 18 27 29 9th Motherwell 24 5 3 4 15 14 2 2 8 6 15 26 10th Dundee 24 4 1 6 11 16 3 4 6 14 20 26 11th Inverness C. Thistle 24 3 4 5 18 17 2 2 8 11 23 21 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12th Dunfermline 24 4 2 6 15 18 0 4 8 8 21 18 </pre>


A couple of loan signings were brought in to bolster my frontline. 26 year old David Graham came from Wigan whilst Scotland capped Dougie Freedman joined from Crystal Palace. The loan deals of both ran until the 1st May. Coming into the club on a permanent basis was Scottish midfielder Scott Severin. Aberdeen had signed him on a free transfer from Hearts in the summer, but he had failed to make an impression on their first team. The £1.5M price tag might have been a bit high, but i needed Scots in my side.

The return to action after the break saw us travel to Fir Park to face Motherwell. A Craig Beattie penalty, awarded after Gordon Marshall had fouled Ricky Gillies, gave us the lead in just the fifth minute, but Scott Leitch's 20th minute equaliser meant that it would not be a happy return to the league for us. Add to that the fact that Pearson got a two match ban for his red card received late in the match and i was not very happy at all.

We entered the Scottish Cup at the third round stage with a game against Clyde at Broadwood. Again i fielded a side mostly full of reserves, with Marshall and Laursen being the only two regular first team players given a game. And it seemed the wrong choice as Nicky Henderson put a shock on the cards with his goal in the first sixty seconds, but we managed to settle well and equalised on the stroke of half time when James Chalmers struck home David Graham's pass. And the win was sealed with fifteen minutes to go when Darren O'Dea's corner was headed home by Danish defender Ulrik Laursen. It wasn't the best of wins, but it would have to do. The fourth round draw paired us with Livingston.

Our final match of a short month saw us face Hearts at home in the SPL. Shaun Maloney got us off to a great start when he volleyed hmoe Paul Lambert's cross, and by half time we were cruising after Maloney had turned provider and sent a great ball into the area for Alan Thompson to fire home. Lambert got himself on the scoresheet early in the second half after being put clear by Severin (making his debut) and Dougie Freedman (another debutant) sealed the day with his first goal for the club, tapping in a rebound from just three yards out.

The fact that Rangers were held 2-2 by Dundee at Dens Park meant that we were just a solitary point behind the 'Gers at the end of the month.

retired_bbcarr

February 2002

Pearson, because of his ban, missed the game against Inverness at the Caledonian Stadium. Our previous visit to Inverness had ended in a somewhat depressing draw in a game which, for the most part, they totally outplayed us. So there were real nerves of another slip-up when the teams took to the field. Those nerves were diminished; however, by the fifteenth minute when we had a two goal lead. Beattie had netted from Maloney's pass inside 120 seconds, and then, on the quarter hour, Lambert slammed home a loose ball from twenty five yards to double our advantage. we perhaps relaxed too far, though, as the home side pulled a goal back on the stroke of half time through Paul Fenwick. And two minutes after the break the scores were level when Liam Keogh broke clear of our defence and fired past Marshall. Despite ICT being in the ascendancy, the whole game changed in our favour in the 59th minute. Just before we took a corner, i made a triple substitution. Darren O'Dea came on for his league debut, replacing Jackie McNamara, Hugh Murray took the place of Darren Mackie and Dougie Freedman came on for Beattie. O'Dea headed straight over to take the corner kick, and placed his effort smack on the head of Murray who put it past Mark Brown to restore our lead. Whilst still basking in the glory on my substitution, it paid off again as Freedman netted from Valgaeren's pass. The on loan striker put his second of the day away with ten minutes left, and Shaun Maloney finished off the 6-2 rout with the last kick of the ball after he was put clear by Freedman.

The Inverness win, or at least the final half hour of it, was a serious confidence boost for the visit of Rangers the following weekend. From the very outset we took the game to our cross-city rivals and never let them settle into a pattern of play. Scott Severin opened the scoring inside the first quarter of an hour when he tapped home a rebound after Stefan Klos had failed to hod Maloney's long range effort. And by half time we had the Celtic faithful in a frenzy as Maloney had gone one better and scored himself, with Severn providing the cross for him to head home. Any hope of a Rangers come back was ended before the hour mark when Maloney was put clear by McNamara and the young striker got his second of the game, and just to rub salt into the 'Gers' wounds, Michael Stewart converted Pearson's cross in the dying seconds. The win put us two points clear at the top of the table and got me a nice memo from the board telling me how pleased they were with my work.

We switched competitions midweek to face Gretna at Hampden in the semi final of the league cup. The new division three side had really made an impression in their first season in the league system. Currently sitting top of the bottom division, they had disposed of Stirling, Hibernian, Dunfermline and Rangers on their way to a Hampden date with us. The press gave them a small chance of reaching their first final, but we never did. James Chalmers was injured, so loan signing david Graham took his place in the cup line-up. And the Wigan striker broke the deadlock just after the half hour when he headed home Ross Wallace's wonderfully delivered free kick. And, just moments after half time, the game was safe when Graham bagged his second, this tmie pouncing on a loose ball to find a way past David Wylie in the Gretna goal. Just to make their day that bit worse, Stephen McManus rounded off the win nicely for us, heading home from a Wallace cross. With Hearts beating Dundee United by a solitary goal in the other semi final, we would face the Jambos at the national stadium in the final.

We stayed in cup mode for our next game was we faced Livingston at Almondvale in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup. Our first team squad did nowhere near as good a job as the reserves had against Gretna; however, and a poor game ended with a replay being needed to separate the sides. We had taken the lead through Shaun Maloney early on, but Craig Easton's second half equaliser meant we would have to face them again at Celtic Park just four days later.

And the replay was a far more one-sided affair as we booked our place in the fifth round against Motherwell. Dougie Freedman got boot to Ricky Gillies' cross to beat Roddy McKenzie and put us in front, and two more goals before the break had the game sealed early on. We went two up through David Graham as he flashed home a shot after getting on the end of Freedman's cross, and then Bobo Baldé hammered home a 20 yard free kick. The scoring was rounded off twelve minutes from time when Graham sent a cross into the six yard box which Andrew Allan tried to send over his own cross bar, but succeeded only in putting it firmly into the back of his own net.

Our third consecutive game against Livi saw us back in league action, and back at Almondvale. And, again, it was a far closer affair than at Celtic Park, but, thankfully, we came out victorious and stayed on top of the league. Scott Severin tucked away a rebound with the last kick of the first half to put us in front. When Ross O'Donoghue pulled the home side level with fifteen minutes left, though, i was ready to punch the ***** out of every one of my players. But Pearson came to their rescue, heading home Severin's corner to give us the three points.

Our final game in February saw us return to UEFA Cup action with a fourth round tie against Ajax. The Dutch side visited Celtic Park before we would travel to Amsterdam in March, and we were anticipating a very tough tie. In terms of possession and chances, that was exactly the opposite of what we got. We dominated the match from the first whistle to the last, outshooting them 15 to 4. But our wasteful nature in front of goal meant that they were in the lead of the tie as it went into the second leg, though we still had every chance of coming through. Shaun Maloney had given us the lead in the first half when he toe poked home a loose ball after a goalmouth scramble, but Nicolae Mitea's second half equaliser meant that the away goals rule saw Ajax with the slight advantage heading back to Amsterdam.

retired_bbcarr

March 2002

With the manager of the month award for February sitting proudly on my desk, i settled down to begin March by watching Rangers take on Hearts. Our game against the green half of Edinburgh would take place twenty four hours later, and with Hearts claiming a 2-0 win at Tynecastle, we would have the opportunity to go five points clear at the top of the table. But life is never that simple, is it? A truly awful ninety minutes on Sunday saw us go down 1-0 to Tony Mowbray's Hibs courtesy of Dean Shiels' goal in the opening excahnges of the second half.

It was hardly the most ideal preparation for our vital trip to Amsterdam. With Nicolae Mitea's goal having put Ajax in the driver's seat for the second leg, we knew we would have to score on the night. And, with my confidence in our defence hardly at sky high levels, i was convinced we'd have to score many more than one to progress to the quarter finals. Our cause was given an incredible boost just 120 seconds into the match, though. Referee Thor Håversen was forced to produce a red card and show it to Ajax's central defender Hedwiges Maduro when he headbutted Shaun Maloney in an off the ball incident. The home crowd were up in arms about the decision, and when Maloney went on to score the only goal of the night, flighting a 25 yard free kick into the top corner on the stroke of half time, they went ballistic. But it didn't matter to us. We were through and that was all that mattered. Even the fact that we lost Jackie McNamara for a month with a calf strain and Ricky Gillies for two weeks with a twisted knee couldn't damped our spirits. The draw for the last eight placed us against Atletico Madrid, with the leg in the Vicente Calderón being played first.

We stayed off league duty for our fifth round tie against Motherwell in the Scottish cup. Terry Bitcher brought his men to Celtic Park with confidence, and left having been dumped out of the competition. We were set on our way when Stan Varga fired in a free kick just after the half hour mark, and were more than confident six minutes later when Scott Severin fired in from the penalty spot after Brian Kerr had, harshly, been adjudged to have handled the ball in the penalty area. On loan debutant striker Clinton Morrison did give 'Well some hope in the second half with his well placed shot past Rab Douglas, but, in all honesty, they were never going to get level. I had hoped to avoid Hibs in the semi final draw given my less than impressive record against them, but, as luck would have it, it was Mowbray's men that we would face at Hampden to play for a place in the final.

Before we resumed our UEFA Cup challenge, we agreed to sell Stan Petrov to Spanish side Espanyol for £5M. The popular midfielder would leave the club over the summer months, and bring in some much needed cash to bolster my Scottish contingent. One irritating point was that David Graham left us when Wigan agreed to sell him to St Mirren for £350K. He had certainly been useful in our domestic cup games, but i wasn't convinced enough to take a risk on him permanently.

Few gave us a chance over overcoming Madrid over the two legs, but considering their poor form in the league (which saw them languishing in 14th place) and the fact that they hadn't won a home game in any competition since the turn of the year, i was quietly confident that we could book our place in the last four. The first half passed in a mostly quiet fashion as we did the typical thing in an away tie in Europe and defended for our lives. Our counter attack was hurting the Spaniards at times, though, and really cut into them when Stephen Pearson netted a wonderful solo effort to give us the lead with virtually the last kick of the first half. During the second half we retreated into our defensive shell, and paid for it when Ariel Ibagaza levelled the scores with fifteen minutes to go. But, at the start of the game, i'd more than have settled for an away goal and a draw on the night, now all we had to do was finish the job off in Glasgow.

Our fourth consecutive cup game saw us take on Hearts in the league cup final. I decided on a mixed team, with the most impressive of my reserve plaers taking their place alongside some more experienced boys. Hearts put out a full strength side and provided tough competition for the majority of the first half. Once Stan Petrov had bundled home a scrappy goal five minutes from the break; however, their heads went down and the cup looked on its way to Celtic Park. The Jambos rallied late on, and in injury time forced a magnificent save from Marshall, but just to rub salt in the wounds we went right up the other end of the pitch and settle matters with James Chalmers (on as an 85th minute sub for Freedman) volleying past Craig Gordon from a Ross Wallace cross. It may have only been the league cup, but my first trophy as Celtic manager was a very sweet taste indeed.

We had to clear our minds before Thursday's return leg against Atletico Madrid, though. The Spaniards came to twon in determined fashion and dominated proceedings in the first half. Petrov was forced off after 11 minutes with a broken toe, which would keep him out for three weeks, but they suffered an even bigger blow when Fernando Torres took a heavy blow to the chest and was replaced by Peter Luccin. They did; however, manage to find their way into the lead before the break. Ariel Ibagaza, who had been their most dangerous player throughout both legs, latched onto Luccin's pass and rounded David Marshall before firing low into the middle of the net, just avoiding Bobo Baldé's despairing lunge. Thankfully, our lacklustre performance was left in the changing room, and ninety seconds after the restart we were level when Maloney fired home having been put clear by Valgaeren. The game looked, for all the world, to be heading for extra time, but it had a final sting in the tail as Laursen set up Maloney and he became a Celtic legend as he struck a sweet shot past Leo Franco to put us into the UEFA Cup semi-final. The draw placed us against Liverpool, with the Anfield leg first, though there was bad news as Valgaeren would miss the Anfield leg after picking up his third yellow card against Madrid.

We finally got a league game with a trip to Dens Park to face Dundee. For the first time since i took over, i managed to field an entirely Scottish starting XI in a league match, but it turned out not to be the media friendly story i had anticipated. Instead, the press jumped at the chance to lambast my all Scots policy as my entirely home grown team got totally humped, 4-0. Lee Barnard, a debutant Englishman on loan from Spurs scored a hat-trick before half time to win the game, and Stephen Lovell completed the humiliation in the final moments. And just to make the day worse, Rangers claimed three points in their game to rip us from the top of the table as well.

The month ended three days later with a visit from Kilmarnock. After losing to Dundee, i was not amused to see us fall behind to Killie when Gary Locke whipped in a shot from the edge of the box just before the half hour mark. And when Kris Boyd make it 2-0 just two minutes later, i could feel my P45 landing on my desk. When Garry Hay put Killie 3-0 up on the stroke of half time, i was all ready to resign during the interval. But we came out fighting, and Darren Mackie hit a quickfire double in the first five minutes of the second half to put us back in the game. When Duncan Ferguson, playing in his first game since the defeat to Aberdeen on New Year's day, levelled the scored on the hour mark, i was nearly ecstatic. The crowd now expected a win, and Dougie Freedman delivered it with twenty minutes still remaining. And there were ten minutes left on the clock when Michael Stewart rounded off the scoring for the day with an imressive twenty five yard drive past Thomas Coyne in the Killie goal. It was a wonderfully confidence boosting way to finish the month, and with Aberdeen taking three points off Rangers, we were back where we belonged, in top spot.

retired_bbcarr

April 2002

It turned out not to matter that Valgaeren was suspended for the first leg of the Liverpool tie in the UEFA Cup semi final as the big Belgian ended up missing the rest of the season with damaged ankle ligaments. That meant that Stan Varga lined up in the centre of our defence at Anfield, a fact i was none too pleased about. But that worry was soon put out of my mind as we took the lead before twenty minutes had passed, Shaun Maloney whipping a free kick past Jerzy Dudek. Djibril Cissé's 19th goal of the season meant that the scores were level at the break, however. We were soon celebrating again in the second period as Maloney'c corner was headed in by captain fantastic, Paul Lambert. But Liverpool were determined and pulled level again soon afterwards, this time though Milan Baros. It looked as though the game would end 2-2 with us in the driving seat, but just moments before the final whistle, Igor Biscan rifled home a stunning volley from thirty yards out to give Liverpool the advantage going into the second leg.

The chance of a second Hampden final was next up as we played Hibs at the national stadium in the semi final of the Scottish Cup. With the game taking place just 48 hours after the Liverpool match, a lot of my layers were rested, and that's the excuse i'm sticking to as to why Hibs triumphed. Guillaume Beuzelin put them in front early on, but we were level soon afterwards through Hugh Murray. Andy Burgess gave Hibs their lead for a second time on 59 minutes, but within sixty seconds we had equalised again, this time through Aiden McGeady. But the tie was settled ten minutes from time when Derek Riordan pounced on a loose ball and forced it in, putting the Hibees through to the final.

The final game before the split saw us travel to face Dunfermline. Derek Young got them off on the right foot, firing low pat Marshall in the 17th minute, and they were two up before we'd woken up. Gary Mason's penalty attempt was saved by Marshall (who had given away the spot kick in the first place) but the rebound was forced over the line by Darran Young in an almighty goal line scramble. Maloney headed in from a Ross Wallace corner on the stroke of half time to give us some hope for the second period, but Darren Young's second of the day just after the hour mark meant that we went into the split a point behind Rangers.


<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * Scottish Premier Division - Monday 8th April 2002********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2001/2 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Rangers 33 14 3 0 32 9 7 2 7 17 19 68 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Celtic 33 12 1 3 39 11 8 6 3 35 24 67 3rd Dundee Utd 33 9 5 2 32 18 7 5 5 17 14 58 4th Hibernian 33 8 4 5 22 20 8 1 7 30 27 53 5th Hearts 33 8 3 5 25 17 4 4 9 24 37 43 6th Aberdeen 33 9 3 4 27 25 3 4 10 11 25 43 7th Dundee 33 7 3 7 25 26 4 4 8 21 26 40 8th Livingston 33 5 5 7 15 19 5 4 7 19 22 39 9th Kilmarnock 33 6 5 6 18 22 4 4 8 19 30 39 10th Motherwell 33 8 4 4 23 19 2 3 12 9 23 37 11th Dunfermline 33 7 3 7 23 22 1 6 9 13 25 33 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12th Inverness C. Thistle 33 3 7 6 22 25 3 3 11 18 31 28 </pre>


A crowd of just over 55,000 turned up for our next game, against Aberdeen at Celtic Park. Ricky Gillies got one over on his former club, stabbing home a goal from Alan Thompson's well delivered free kick. We were two up before the break when Stan Varga showed an incredible bit of skill (especially for a useless defender) when he played a 1-2 with Jackie McNamara and fired low past Joe Murphy. The win was sealed with twenty five minutes to go when Thompson, who was the clear man of the match, laid off a superb pass for Dougie Freedman to run onto and smash past Murphy. With Hearts beating Rangers 2-1 at Tynecastle, we were quickly back on top of the league.

Liverpool came to Glasgow on the following Thursday night, intent on turing their first leg advantage into a UEFA Cup final place. And with Milan Baros grabbing them a goal in the fifth minute, it looked more than likely that that is what would happen. Baros' goal just spurred us on, though, and a quickfire double had us in front on away goals. Maloney scored the first, firing past Dudek after being set up by Mackie, and three minutes later Beattie headed home Pearson's cross. When Stan Petrov put in a rebound three minutes into the second half, we were convinced that we were through. But Baros levelled the aggregate scores (and tied the away goals as well) with a well placed shot ten minutes from time. With three of the four injury time minutes passed, we celebrated again as Maloney put us into the final. Spotting Dudek off his line, our young striker launched a 40 yard lob over the Polish 'keeper and into the net. With just sixty seconds left, we knew it was ours. But Liverpool had other ideas, and went straight up the other end of the park for Djibril Cissé to break Celtic hearts as he drove a shot home from the edge of the box. We may have won 4-3 on the night, but the 6-6 aggregate score meant that Liverpool progressed to a final against Middlesbrough (which they went on to win).

Hibs had been a troublesome team for me all season, so a visit to Easter Road was not what i needed after the heartbreak of the UEFA Cup. And when Hibs went two up through O'Connor and Burgess, i was ready to ring up Alex McLeish and concede the title race. But a second half fightback kept us top of the table as goals from Alan Thompson, Dougie Freedman, Juninho and Michael Stewart gave us a much needed win.

The title effectively rested on our game against Rangers, which was, thankfully, schduled for Celtic Park. The first half was awful, and the less said about it the better (especially as rangers were the slightly better team), but the second half was much better. Maloney put us in front after 58 minutes, sending another of his wonderful free kicks into the back of the net, this one marking his 20th goal of the season. And to wrap up the points, Dougie Freedman, in his last game before returning to Crystal Palace, headed home Mackie's cross. Steven Thompson got a consolation for Rangers deep into injury time, but we felt the title would be ours.

shannon2007

I find it difficult to cheer you, but this challenge really is one of my all time favs, and I have a feeling I'll be looking at it again one.

Needless to say I hope you crash and burn.. erm I mean do well

retired_bbcarr

cheers. i understand your difficulty in cheering me on, and all i can say is that i hope rangers finish second. every single year.

-------------------------------

May 2002

The assumption that the title race was over after we had beaten Rangers was perhaps made slightly too quickly. Hearts were intent on spoiling our party at Tynecastle, even though ex-Jambo Scott Severin had given us the lead inside sixty seconds. We definitely relaxed after that, and it cost us a lot. Craig Burley had levelled the scores before half time, and we were unable to up our game in the second period, a fact which Hearts took advantage of as Dennis Wyness scored the winner late on. Rangers' 4-1 destruction of Hibs at Ibrox meant that we would have to claim a win over Dundee Utd in our final game to be sure of the retaining the title.

And, considering the game was at Celtic Park, i had little doubt that we would end the day with the trophy in our hands. Lars Hirschfeld, the United 'keeper, greatly aided our cause as he gave away two first half penalties, both of which were converted by youngster, Craig Beattie. Though we lost Darren Mackie to injury early in the second half, we were not to be stopped, and James Chalmers (a 66th minute substitute for Shaun Maloney) fired in the goal that put the result beyond doubt with fifteen minutes left. The remainder of the game saw every touch of ours cheered by the crowd, and the party began in earnest when the final whistle was blown.


<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">i would put the end of season table in here, but i forgot to print it off</pre>


<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * Glasgow Celtic - Saturday 11th May 2002********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2001/2 Senior Club Stats============================================= ================================================== =No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6 Baldé, Dianbobo 47 2 0 0 4 4 0 2 7.51 37 Beattie, Craig 33 (3) 14 0 4 (4) 3 3 0 2 7.31 26 Chalmers, James 4 (3) 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 7.43 49 Cuthbert, Scott 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 13 Douglas, Robert 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7.25 20 Ferguson, Duncan 23 4 0 0 6 1 1 3 7.65 15 Gillies, Ricky 24 (2) 2 0 0 7 2 0 2 7.04 10 Hartson, John 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8.00 24 Herbert, Michael - - - - - - - - ---- 7 Juninho 8 (5) 4 0 0 4 0 0 2 7.77 41 Kennedy, John 5 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.83 14 Lambert, Paul 37 (1) 14 0 0 4 7 0 3 7.53 16 Laursen, Ulrik 24 (5) 1 0 0 2 1 0 1 7.03 50 Lensky, Jacob - - - - - - - - ---- 21 Mackie, Darren 32 (5) 10 0 0 3 1 0 1 7.16 29 Maloney, Shaun 33 (7) 20 0 0 10 2 0 8 7.90 1 Marshall, David 57 0 65 0 0 0 0 1 7.16 22 McAllister, Jamie 35 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 6.91 45 McBride, Kevin 3 (2) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.20 46 McGeady, Aidan 3 1 0 1 (0) 1 0 0 0 7.67 47 McGovern, Michael - - - - - - - - ---- 44 McManus, Stephen 2 (1) 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 7.33 4 McNamara, Jackie 32 1 0 0 3 6 0 0 6.97 25 McParland, Anthony 6 (1) 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 6.86 12 Murray, Hugh 20 (11) 6 0 0 4 0 0 1 7.26 48 O'Dea, Darren 15 (5) 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 6.80 11 Pearson, Stephen 36 (1) 7 0 0 7 3 1 1 7.24 19 Petrov, Stilian 17 (4) 2 0 0 2 1 0 0 7.19 34 Quinn, Rocco - - - - - - - - ---- 27 Severin, Scott 14 (3) 4 0 1 (1) 3 1 0 1 7.12 17 Stewart, Michael 20 (9) 4 0 0 5 4 0 2 7.31 9 Sutton, Chris 10 (6) 4 0 0 1 2 0 2 7.56 3 Sylla, Momo 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 7.56 8 Thompson, Alan 18 (2) 6 0 0 7 2 0 4 7.80 </pre>