bloodandfire
Well-Known Member
Here's a wee article to cheer us up 
. . .
GORDON MARSHALL will never forget the stick he got from Celtic’s sore losers.
Marshall has good memories of his seven years as Parkhead goalie.
But he insists some of his old club’s players crossed the line when he played against them for Kilmarnock in a crucial clash.
Tomorrow night, BBC Scotland will show the dramatic final-day deciders from 2003.
Celtic won 4-0 at Rugby Park, but Rangers thrashed Dunfermline 6-1 to pip their Old Firm rivals to the league flag by a single goal.
Marshall said: “There were a few things said to me during that game that I can never forgive.
“I’m not going into that but I won’t forget it.
"I could see that they were devastated at the end because of how things turned out but that wasn’t down to me.
“Some people think that’s wrong because I was a former Celtic player.
“But when someone else is paying your wages then you give 100 per cent for them — that’s what being a professional footballer is all about.
“Quite apart from anything else, I could have been playing my last-ever game that day.
"The manager Jim Jefferies had just told me that he wouldn’t be renewing my contract. I was 39 and I had nothing lined up.
"None of the Celtic players were losing their jobs so I certainly wasn’t thinking about how sad they were at full time.
“I was more concerned with going to the Killie fans and saying thank you and goodbye, because I’d enjoyed my time there.”
As news filtered down to Ayrshire that Rangers were racking up the goals in Glasgow, the pressure increased on the Hoops.
Marshall — who is now goalie coach at Aberdeen — added: “I think the turning point came at 3-0 when Henrik Larsson beat me with a shot which came back off the post and landed in my arms.
“Seconds later, Ronald de Boer had scored to make it 4-1 at Ibrox.
“Then Alan Thompson, who’d already scored with a penalty, went down as I came out to challenge him and the referee Kenny Clark pointed to the spot again.
"I was furious with the decision and, when Thompson blazed it over the crossbar, I shouted, ‘That’s what you get for cheating’ at him.
“It was just five days after they had lost to Porto in the Uefa Cup final in Seville and it was incredible that they walked away from that season with nothing — it was probably a crime.”
Marshall revealed that the mind games had begun before kick-off that day.
He said: “Celtic called Jim Jefferies before the game to say that they’d be bringing down their own ball boys to ensure that there was a multi-ball system for whenever the ball went out of play.
“Jim told them in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t having that.”
Fortunately for veteran Marsh, he wasn’t unemployed for long.
The next day he got a call from Motherwell boss Terry Butcher offering him a deal at Fir Park.
Hoops fans must have wished that he had made his last appearance in 2003 — because two years later he came back to haunt Celtic again on Helicopter Sunday.
Martin O’Neill’s side needed a win to guarantee the title and were 1-0 up with two minutes to go.
But Scott McDonald struck twice for the Steelmen while Rangers beat Hibs 1-0 to pip them by a point.
He said: “They had four one-on-ones with me but I managed to save them all.
“At the final whistle, though, my first thought was for my old team-mate Jackie McNamara because it was his testimonial match the following weekend and I hoped losing the title wouldn’t affect the crowd!”
. . .GORDON MARSHALL will never forget the stick he got from Celtic’s sore losers.
Marshall has good memories of his seven years as Parkhead goalie.
But he insists some of his old club’s players crossed the line when he played against them for Kilmarnock in a crucial clash.
Tomorrow night, BBC Scotland will show the dramatic final-day deciders from 2003.
Celtic won 4-0 at Rugby Park, but Rangers thrashed Dunfermline 6-1 to pip their Old Firm rivals to the league flag by a single goal.
Marshall said: “There were a few things said to me during that game that I can never forgive.
“I’m not going into that but I won’t forget it.
"I could see that they were devastated at the end because of how things turned out but that wasn’t down to me.
“Some people think that’s wrong because I was a former Celtic player.
“But when someone else is paying your wages then you give 100 per cent for them — that’s what being a professional footballer is all about.
“Quite apart from anything else, I could have been playing my last-ever game that day.
"The manager Jim Jefferies had just told me that he wouldn’t be renewing my contract. I was 39 and I had nothing lined up.
"None of the Celtic players were losing their jobs so I certainly wasn’t thinking about how sad they were at full time.
“I was more concerned with going to the Killie fans and saying thank you and goodbye, because I’d enjoyed my time there.”
As news filtered down to Ayrshire that Rangers were racking up the goals in Glasgow, the pressure increased on the Hoops.
Marshall — who is now goalie coach at Aberdeen — added: “I think the turning point came at 3-0 when Henrik Larsson beat me with a shot which came back off the post and landed in my arms.
“Seconds later, Ronald de Boer had scored to make it 4-1 at Ibrox.
“Then Alan Thompson, who’d already scored with a penalty, went down as I came out to challenge him and the referee Kenny Clark pointed to the spot again.
"I was furious with the decision and, when Thompson blazed it over the crossbar, I shouted, ‘That’s what you get for cheating’ at him.
“It was just five days after they had lost to Porto in the Uefa Cup final in Seville and it was incredible that they walked away from that season with nothing — it was probably a crime.”
Marshall revealed that the mind games had begun before kick-off that day.
He said: “Celtic called Jim Jefferies before the game to say that they’d be bringing down their own ball boys to ensure that there was a multi-ball system for whenever the ball went out of play.
“Jim told them in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t having that.”
Fortunately for veteran Marsh, he wasn’t unemployed for long.
The next day he got a call from Motherwell boss Terry Butcher offering him a deal at Fir Park.
Hoops fans must have wished that he had made his last appearance in 2003 — because two years later he came back to haunt Celtic again on Helicopter Sunday.
Martin O’Neill’s side needed a win to guarantee the title and were 1-0 up with two minutes to go.
But Scott McDonald struck twice for the Steelmen while Rangers beat Hibs 1-0 to pip them by a point.
He said: “They had four one-on-ones with me but I managed to save them all.
“At the final whistle, though, my first thought was for my old team-mate Jackie McNamara because it was his testimonial match the following weekend and I hoped losing the title wouldn’t affect the crowd!”
