Michael Fish will go down in history for one wrong weather forecast when he announced on BBC TV: “Earlier on today apparently a woman rang the BBC and said she had heard that there was a hurricane on the way. Well if you are watching, don’t worry, there isn’t.”
The legendary meteorologist poured cold water on this amateur forecaster and within hours 1987’s Great Storm had arrived. Ouch!
In the World of Scottish sports journalism there was a similar prediction that went a little pear-shaped. When Hugh Keevins questioned a 33 year old Slovak signing on at Celtic in 1998.
“I don’t know what I find more laughable – the fact that Celtic cannot find £500,000 from their biscuit tin to sign a proven talent like John Spencer, or the fact that they then spent £300,000 on one of Dr Jo’s old pals, the unknown Lubomir Moravcik.”
To be fair to Hugh Keevins despite the fact he’s probably reminded of that very story every time he gets in a taxi, he handles it well, even after all this time.
“Said every word of it, wrote every word of it, regret every word of it”, He admitted.
Fair play to Keevins. It takes a big man to hold your hands up when you get something so wrong and so publicly.
There was no way Keevins was to know just how successful Lubomir Moravcik was to become at that time. After a fairly quiet debut against Dundee, Lubomir Moravcik announced himself to Scottish football and he hit harder than the storm 10 years previous that had battered the UK.
Lubo looked a little boy lost in the pandemonium as he scored two wonderful goals in a very much unexpected 5-1 win for Celtic over Rangers at Celtic Park on 21 November 1998. It was a game where Henrik Larsson also scored a brace, a young Mark Burchill became a hero and Johann Mjallby made his Celtic debut.
Celtic’s very own ‘Gift from God’ has been speaking to The Herald ahead of this week’s derby and he’s been talking about both that Old Firm debut encounter and his own experiences of playing for Celtic at Ibrox.
“The most important game for me was the first match against Rangers when I scored two goals,” he said.
“That game gave me a lot of freedom in my mind, and then the 3-0 game was more of a special bonus for me.
“The first Old Firm game was really important for me. Even though I was 33, I was a bit nervous beforehand. I knew there was a lot of responsibility on our shoulders, and it was only natural to be a bit nervous.
“When I played my first game against Dundee, it was a normal game and I wasn’t really nervous, but the Rangers game was entirely different.
“We were up against a really strong Rangers team at that time, with really good players and a good manager in Dick Advocaat, so it wasn’t an easy game going into it.
“The other game at Ibrox after we won the league, that was easier, but it was still an important game for everybody.
“It was much easier for me though and I took a lot more pleasure from it. You could relax a little bit, even though you were always making sure you had the focus to win the game. You have to win, no matter the circumstances that is vital.”
That other game Lubo mentions was under Martin O’Neill in 2001, when Henrik Larsson scored his 50th goal of the season and two goals from Celtic magician put the icing on Celtic’s championship cake at Ibrox in a second half 3-0 blitz.
Of course Moravcik scored both those goals in front of a capacity Broomloan Road stand at Ibrox and he feels today’s players are missing out on the atmosphere the fixture should really be creating:
“It’s a bit if a shame,” he said. “If you only have 800 rather than 10,000 Celtic supporters there then it takes a bit away from the atmosphere.
“The fans will still be watching it in the bars and in their homes, and for the players, it shouldn’t change their motivation at all.
“They still have to be very motivated and concentrated to play well because there are so many people watching and it means so much to so many Celtic supporters, not just the ones who are in the stadium.”
And looking forward to the game itself Moravcik clearly feel that The Hoops are going into the encounter as favourites and has pinpointed the strike force of Leigh Griffiths and Odsonne Ediaurd as the men that can win the match for Celtic:
“I would say that Celtic are favourites for this game. They should be more relaxed this time around and be able to play more with their brains rather than rushing things.
“It is Rangers that are under more pressure in this game. They are playing at home, they are 13 points behind Celtic, so all the pressure is on their shoulders.
“There are a lot of players in good form,” he said. “Leigh Griffiths is back, which is very important for Celtic because he is a very good and clever player who is able to score goals.
“Odsonne Edouard is very strong up front too. With two players like that, it is a major strong point of the team, and if Celtic are well organised, then I think they must win this game by a couple of goals.
As much as Michael Fish and Hugh Keevins have struggled with past predictions, let’s hope Lubomir Moravcik is right, and there’s a strike force of Leigh Griffiths and Odsonne Edouard just waiting to whip up a storm.
Niall J
Revealed – The Celtic Supporters behind the plane over Ibrox | The Celtic Star https://t.co/HOVd7pAhuz
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When David Murray banned Celtic fans from Ibrox | The Celtic Star https://t.co/wKuowATKLK
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