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Tuesday 12 May 1998

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POWER STRUGGLE FORCES COACH OUT AS CHAIRMAN
ADMITS: HE WOULD HAVE
BEEN SACKED

WIM JANSEN quit Celtic yesterday just 48 hours after guiding them to the title that broke Glasgow rivals Rangers' hearts then learned the club was planning to sack him anyway.

The curly-haired coach walked away knowing he could not survive a power struggle with Bhoys' chairman Fergus McCann and general manager Jock Brown, whom he was battling for control of the club's transfer policy. He will lead the new Scottish champions out for the last time today in Portugal as they take on Sporting Lisbon in a friendly.

I don't want to comment too much but you can say I have had different opinions than the management," he said last night. I will return to Scotland after the match in Lisbon to sort out a few things before going back to Holland. I will then try to figure out what I will do next. I haven't spoken to any clubs so I don't know what the future holds.

Jansen's intention to quit had been the worst-kept secret in football for some weeks, with the former Dutch international claiming his relationship with Brown had broken down irretrievably and insisting that McCann was unprepared to match Rangers' clout in the transfer market. And yesterday, the chairman admitted that he would have fired the coach had he not decided to go because of what he described as Jansen's breaching of confidentiality clauses in his contract.

Said McCann: "It was the opinion of the board that he could not continue. Individuals will always come and go but the legend that is Celtic continues."

And the chairman claimed that the biggest run-in with Jansen was over the signing of Harald Brattbakk, the man whose goal clinched the league championship last Saturday. He said Jansen only ever saw the Norwegian star on video and refused the offer of a private plane to watch Brattbakk play - yet still told the club to spend £2.2m on the player.

"It's club policy that every player we sign must be seen at least once by the head coach, insisted McCann. In Harald's case, we provided a private plane for Wim to use to watch Harald playing for Rosenborg and he refused three times to use it.

"He also refused to give us a list of players in March of possible signing targets and that told us he didn't plan to stay long. There always something wrong with Wim and it was always someone else's fault."

Jansen's decision was no shock to insiders, but still caused huge sadness within a community still coming round from the celebrations of Saturday night. Paul McStay, the last Celtic captain to lift the championship trophy in 1988, said: It is a shame that the players and fans cannot celebrate a magnificent achievement without this sour note to overshadow things. Now there will be upheaval and it is all the more disappointing that this has arisen at a time when they should be looking forward to challenging the best in Europe."

Former Celtic boss Billy McNeill slammed the club, insisting: There has obviously been great interference and I think that's the principle that has occasioned Wim to say, 'I've had enough.' The people I feel most for are the fans. All of a sudden their first weekend of real enjoyment has been taken away from them.

Jansen's 1974 World Cup final team-mate Theo De Jong insisted his friend had not lined up another club, claiming: He hasn't been talking to any other clubs. Both his old club Feyenoord and Ajax have got the people they want in place and I can't see that situation changing.

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