NO SITTING ON THE FENCE
GEORGE McCLUSKEY
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CEORCE McCluskey may not have felt too
nervous when he took to the pitch that famous
night against Ajax but by the time the final
whistle blew, he felt like the weight of the
world had been lifted from his shoulders.
The Celtic striker had been afloat in a sea of
calm before coming on as a substitute with
around 15 minutes left but high drama engulfed
the closing stages of the game after he struck
what proved to be the winner on 88 minutes.
A frenetic end to the match ensued with the
Celts defending for their lives as the seconds
ticked down but when the referee finally blew
his whistle the Hoops hero said relief was the
only thing he felt before going to celebrate with
the travelling support.
"It was unbelievable," he said. "I remember
Dom Sullivan putting me on his shoulders and
he carried me over to the Celtic support where
there was this big fence but they were climbing
up on it and I thought someone was going to
get killed!
I tried shouting on Dom and told him to get
away as the fans were delirious with joy. The
ones at the back were trying to get to the front
to see us but I kept saying to Dom, 'we're not
doing them any favours here!'
"After I pulled his hair he got the message.
You could see the fence bending and I thought,
if this goes there will be trouble.
"The match was moved to Olympic Stadium
because there were so many people coming
to the game. I remember hearing there were
thousands of Celtic fans there and that's a hell of
a lot to take to an away game.
And as the two teams meet once again at Celtic Park tonight,
McCluskey believes there is a similar opportunity for Ronny Deila
and his players to make this match another one to remember for
all involved, as long as the Hoops keep it tight at the back,
"Every time we play them it's a must-win situation but the
reality of the thing is that any time we do play them is that it's
always a great game with goals," he said. "That's because of the
ethos of both teams - they're both attacking teams.
"Ajax like to get the ball on the ground, play through the back
to midfield and strikers and their first thought is always to get
the ball into feet and go forward, the exact same way we have
at Celtic.
'There were other great times in Europe but winning away
from home and getting the winner makes it pretty special, I've
won cups and titles but that win helped the team that season. It
gave us a massive lift as a club and as a team. We put our name
back on the map in Europe by beating Ajax away.
"We were a good side at the time and we got to the
quarter-finals of the European Cup against Real Madrid and b
eat them at home then we had that match away from home
where the referee gave us nothing,
"That was just the way things were at that time, but that win
against Ajax gave the full club a boost and if the boys can get a
win tonight it'll do the same,
"It'll give the manager and players a big boost by getting a win
in Europe. ItH be great for the support too, to say, 'look, we can
play in Europe.'
"All you can do is try to take it to that last match and if you do
that you can only go and do it, It's the same as coming on as a sub
- if you do it, great."
McCluskey has backed the Celts to achieve their dreams by
beating Ajax tonight but also urged a degree of caution to keep
things tight at the back.
'We've got to be a bit careful," he added. 'We've lost a lot of
goals in Europe this year and we need to think about keeping
the door shut at the back. We have to keep a clean sheet but we
obviously need a goal too,
"I don't think we should go gung-ho forward, it wouldn't make
sense for us to do that. We have to play with a bit of security at
the back and keep the defenders there."
