Jorge Cadete was one of the most deadliest finishers our club has ever seen. Shame his time at Celtic was so short…
“There’s only one Jorge Cadete, he puts the ball in the netty…”
Celtic Supporters of a certain vintage will have no problem finishing that song, as it was a well known tune that echoed around Celtic Park and most other grounds in Scotland, such was the regular occurrence of a Jorge Cadete goal.
Jorge infamously dubbed as one of the ‘Three Amigos’ by Fergus McCann, the others of course being Pierre Van Hoojidonk, and Paolo Di Canio, signed for Celtic in early 1996, but was infamously continuously denied the opportunity of making his debut due to the interference of SFA supremo Jim Farry, who deliberately held up his resignation, something he later rightly lost his job over after being hauled through the courts by Fergus McCann.
The Mozambique born striker was seen as quite a capture. Celtic supporters remembered him scoring twice against us in a UEFA cup tie back in 1993, whilst months earlier he grabbed a brace for Portugal in a 5-0 hammering of Scotland. So he had the quality required to score the goals that could aid with our dream of title success.
Despite signing on the dotted line and being paraded at a home clash against Partick Thistle at the end of February, Jorge had to wait until 1st April to be named in Tommy Burns side, earning a place on the bench on a Monday night televised clash with Aberdeen.
It proved to be a fairytale debut for Jorge, as he almost brought the house down when he scored with literally his first touch of the ball, which was a deft touch over the Dons keeper to finish off a 5-0 route in some style, and it was a taste of things to come from the Portuguese striker.
Jorge would score a further four goals towards the end of the campaign, with his overall record being five goals in just six appearances, but unfortunately finished the season empty handed. One can only wonder what difference the Portuguese would have made had he not been used as a pawn in Farry’s bigoted grudge against Celtic
The following season we would witness the true genius of Jorge, as he scored on a regular basis. Jorge was prolific in the box, and one on one with the keeper he was absolutely deadly, up there with the best I have seen in a Celtic shirt, and that’s certainly not an exaggeration.
His record of 33 goals in 43 games that campaign showcased his ability in front of goal, with not one effort arriving via the penalty spot. Unfortunately for Jorge, his teammates and supporters we would finish the season empty handed once again, something that resulted in the dismissal of Tommy Burns.
Jorge unfortunately had his troubles, and with the club in turmoil over the 1997 close season, he refused to come back to Scotland, preferring to stay in exile in his native Portugal, citing medical reasons.
Even with the appointment of Wim Jansen, Jorge still remained his stance, and was eventually granted a move to Spanish side Celta Vigo for a fee of £3.5 million.
It was a shame that his time at the club was so short, as he was a deadly goalscorer. His overall Celtic record of 38 goals in 49 games is proof of just that.
Not only were we robbed of seeing the long haired Portuguese talisman again, we were also denied the pleasure of seeing him pitted up front with a certain Henrik Larsson. What a partnership that would have been!
Cadete later spoke about his regret at not staying at Celtic longer and although it was short and sweet his time at Celtic will not be forgotten by those us who were there to witness his unbelievably brilliant goalscoring ability.
“He’s Portuguese and he scores with ease, walking in Cadete wonderland…”
Just an Ordinary Bhoy
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He was some player, thanks for the memories.hh