The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Heavy smoker Caniggia left Dee mates ‘gasping’
Former Dens striker Falconer tells of ‘eye-opening’ days under the Bonettis
Willie Falconer thought he had seen it all in football as he headed into his 18th season as a professional.
But the former Dundee star admits the Bonetti revolution at Dens Park was “a real eye-opener”.
Having made his senior debut during Aberdeen’s Uefa Cup-winning season, been part of their Premier Division success in 1985, enjoyed fruitful spells down south and been a Scottish Cupwinning cult hero at Celtic, Falconer admits the Italians’ approach was new to him.
Thirty-four-years-old at the time Ivano and Dario Bonetti arrived as Dundee’s new managerial team 20 years ago, Falconer was one of the most respected members of the Dark Blues squad.
And that respect extended to a mutual one when Argentina great Claudio Caniggia sensationally joined the squad.
Falconer had finished the previous season under Jocky Scott as top scorer with 16 goals and won the Player of the Year award.
However, big changes were afoot as the enigmatic Italians set about transforming the Dark Blues into an international outfit that could challenge at the very top.
“I had been at a number of clubs in Scotland and England and you think you’ve seen it all – Dundee under the Bonettis was a real eye-opener,” said Falconer, in an exclusive interview with The Courier.
“You never knew what was going to happen from month to month or week to week. Even the opposition didn’t know what to expect from us, didn’t know what formation Ivano was going to play or which players they’d be up against.
“It was a surprise Jocky left after a good season. The Bonettis seemed to appear out of nowhere, obviously there had been things going on behind the scenes.
“The first thing we noticed was when we were pulled in for pre-season a week early – that was a shock to the system for us players! As coaches they were totally different to what we were used to, training was totally different as they tried to instil the Italian methods.
“There was a lot of disruption to the training times and Scotland being Scotland and footballers being footballers there was some complaining. Sometimes it was 10am then the next day it was a 4pm start. I guess that’s just the way they were.
“They took a lot of good players to
Dundee but a lot of bad ones as well – the idea was to bring players in and sell them on.
“There were four or five really good players like Georgi Nemsadze and the Scottish boys really tried to bond with them and make them feel welcome.
“There was a buzz about the place when the season started but it took a while to really get going.”
With a new strike pairing of Juan Sara and Fabian Caballero arriving in the summer of 2000, Falconer had to be content playing a bit-part role in the 2000/01 campaign.
However, the arrival of Caniggia after a serious injury to Caballero sparked life into Falconer’s season with a string of starts together as the two elder statesmen built up an understanding.
At the time, Falconer admits it was “surreal” to play alongside the man he’d seen tear up the World Cup in 1990 at Dens Park.
“I had watched him in the World Cup for Argentina obviously,” Falconer said.
“It was all kept really quiet, nobody really knew what was happening.
“We were coming off from training at Caird Park and Caniggia came in with the Marrs and Ivano.
“It was surreal to hear he had signed. “I got on really well with Claudio. We were similar ages and were the experienced guys in the squad so we had an understanding on and off the park.
“He was an amazing one-off guy. Even at his age, he was the fittest in the squad – and that was smoking 60 fags a day!”
“He just had great ability, great balance. I think I was a good targetman to play alongside him and let him do his thing.”