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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Ryan Carroll

Fergus McCann pays tribute to Wim Jansen as legendary ex-Celtic owner hails 'incredible career'

Former Celtic owner Fergus McCann has paid tribute to Wim Jansen.

McCann, who famously saved the Hoops in 1994, has spoken out after the death of his former manager was confirmed on Tuesday.

The Dutchman, who passed away at the age of 75, was in charge of the Glasgow giants at a time when McCann was at the helm in the 1997-98 season.

That season Celtic memorably won the league title, preventing rivals Rangers from winning their tenth consecutive crown.

Jansen, who also won the Scottish League Cup in his sole campaign at the helm, was also the manager who worked with McCann to oversee the arrival of club legend Henrik Larsson from his former club Feyenoord.

Celtic football training in March 1998 as Paul Lambert and Wim Jansen share a joke (Daily Record)

Fergus McCann, who now lives in Canada, told the Record: "I am very sorry to hear of Wim’s passing. He had an incredible career.

"Winning the European Cup with Feyenoord and playing in two World Cup Finals in 74 and 78.

"And of course, being the Head Coach of Celtic and winning the league title in a very significant year.

"My thoughts are with his wife Coby and family. May he rest in peace."

In 1994, Celtic faced the biggest crisis in their history with the threat of bankruptcy staring the club in the face.

Wim Jansen is the manager who signed Henrik Larsson to Celtic in 1997 (Chris Bacon/PA)

During the early months of the year, they edged even closer to the brink before being rescued with minutes to spare through the intervention of McCann.

McCann and Jansen had a well-documented difficult relationship after Fergus brought Jansen to the club in 1997 to replace Tommy Burns.

In 1998, Jansen quit as coach less than 48 hours after guiding the club to the league title.

At the time it was reported that a breakdown of communication with general manager Jock Brown, plus McCann's reluctance to match Rangers' buying power in the transfer market, prompted Jansen to exercise his getout clause in his contract.

McCann later insisted that Jansen's decision to quit would not diminish their appetite for success.

He said: "Celtic has risen through adversity and has become stronger and stronger every season for the last four years.

"I have no doubt this will continue next season as the club moves onwards and upwards.

"Many people said it was wrong to appoint a new coach this time last year and there were headlines screaming criticism at the appointment of Wim Jansen.

"But despite all the noise, Celtic has kept its eye on the ball, the League and League Cup have been won, a 60,000-seat stadium will have 50,000 season ticket holders and the scene is set for the next exciting stage in Celtic's history.

"All of this was not the result of the efforts of one season, or of one man," added McCann. "I want to pay tribute to all those at the club, especially the players, all of whom have worked so hard for success, some for four years or more."

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