Sport

On May 4 1997: Paolo Di Canio may walk away from turmoil at Celtic

KINGDOM BATTLER...Kerry half-back Seamus Moynihan was central to the county’s National League success
KINGDOM BATTLER...Kerry half-back Seamus Moynihan was central to the county’s National League success KINGDOM BATTLER...Kerry half-back Seamus Moynihan was central to the county’s National League success

YOU have to hand it to Celtic.

Every time you think the madhouse that is the Glasgow club simply can’t get any madder, something else comes along to push the poor suffering Celtic fans a step closer to straight-jacket status.

The club’s managing director Fergus McCann scoffs at talk of “turmoil” and “disarray”.

But, however he wants to paint recent developments, the public perception is that the club is coming apart at the seams.

The last week can hardly be portrayed as just another typical one in the life of Celtic, with it having brought the end of team manager Tommy Burns on the back of the departures of directors Willie Haughey and Dominic Keane.

And if anyone thought that the football field might possibly bring a note of sanity to proceedings, they were sadly mistaken.

Celtic’s 3-1 Scottish Premier Division win over Hibernian was achieved with a workmanlike performance that, in the circumstances, was a very acceptable one.

But it was quickly pushed to one side as Celtic supporters’ very own ‘Last Action Hero’, Paolo Di Canio, and caretaker manager Billy Stark both went on television to say that they too might soon be for the off.

Di Canio insisted McCann had made a “mistake” in sacking Burns and claimed he “was not sure” whether he would return after the summer.

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IT has been a long time since Kerry supporters celebrated the winning of a Church & General National Football League title with such pride and jubilation.

A 3-7 to 1-8 victory earned Kerry their first national title in 11 years and their first league title since 1984 however, and it goes some way towards explaining why the team played with such hunger and determination.

It also explains why the ecstatic fans heralded the win as the dawning of a bright new era in Kerry football.

As well as scoring a massive psychological boost over their arch rivals on the eve of the championship, this was also Kerry’s opportunity to avenge the defeats which Cork had inflicted on them inside the past 10 months.

The Kingdom men thoroughly deserved to win in front of the 28,795 Munster football fanatics, but it was not their so-called leading lights who won it for them.

It was the likes of Pa Laide, Denis O’Dwyer and Seamus Moynihan who fought for every ball exposing Cork’s weaknesses with their strong tackling and superior strength in every position.

Dara O Se was similarly impressive, cleaning up everything in and around midfield.

In comparison Dara O Cinneide had only one half- decent chance in the entire game, when he scored before being substituted after a fairly unproductive 55 minutes.

But it was the substitution of Colin Corkery six minutes into the second half which caused the most surprise.

Mick O’Dwyer recently said that Colin Corkery was worth his place on the Cork team for his freetaking alone.

Larry Tompkins obviously does not agree

Cork: K O’Dwyer, R McCarthy, M O’Connor, E Sexton, S Og O hAilpin, N Cahalane (capt), M O’Donovan, M Cronin (0-1), D O’Neill, O O’Sullivan, C O’Sullivan (0-3), B Corcoran (0-1), C Corkery (0-1), S O’Brien (0-1), A Dorgan (1-1)

Subs: J Kavanagh for C Corkery (36), P Griffin for B Corcoran (53), B Murphy for M Cronin (59)

Kerry: D O’Keeffe, M Hassett (capt), B O’Shea, K Burns, S Moynihan, L Flaherty, E Breen, D O Se, W Kirby, P Laide, L Hassett (1-2), D O’Dwyer (1- 0), D O Cinneide (0-1), B Clarke (0-2), M Fitzgerald (1-2)

Subs: MF Russell for D O Cinneide (55)

Referee: Pat Casserly (Westmeath)

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BERNHARD Langer’s remarkable record finish in the Italian Open at Brescia denied Jose Maria Olazabal a second victory in his fairytale comeback from injury.

Langer dramatically birdied four of the last five holes to shoot an eight-under-par 64, breaking the Gardagolf course record and heading Olazabal by a stroke, totalling 15-under-par for the four rounds.

Dungannon’s Darren Clarke moved up the Ryder cup points table by finishing in third place.

Clarke finished best of the Irish and British golfers with a 67 for an 11-under par final score. Ireland’s Philip Walton was one shot behind Clarke recording a 67 for the day and a final score of 278.

Raymond Burns was three further back but Padraig Harrington finished with a poor 72 to end the tournament ten strokes off the winner Langer.

Well down the list were David Higgins and Christy O’Connor Jnr on 288 and 291.