Burley reveals Wim’s role in elevating Henrik to greatness
Henrik Larsson left Celtic in 2004, leaving behind a legacy of goals, trophies and moments of sublime skill.
The Swedish striker is 50 tomorrow, but the memories of him in his Parkhead pomp means he will never age.
He remains Celtic’s record European scorer with 35 goals, and only Jimmy McGrory and Bobby Lennox have found the net more often than Larsson’s tally of 242.
But as midfielder Craig Burley – who joined the club on the same day and who will also celebrate his halfcentury on Friday – recalls, it took a while before he and his new team-mates realised that they were in the presence of someone special.
“We both signed on July 25, 1997 and, as it turned out, I’d played against Henrik at Ibrox for Scotland against Sweden the year before in a World Cup qualifier,” he said.
“When I heard he was joining, too, I thought: ‘Well, he’s a decent, old-fashioned winger’ – but no more than that.
“You have to remember that the Henrik Larsson who arrived at Parkhead wasn’t the one everyone thinks of now. Like the rest of us, he had a terrible start to that season.
“Everyone remembers his debut at Easter Road when his misplaced pass set up Chic Charnley to score Hibs’ winner.
“Henrik still gets annoyed when people bring it up. He’s like: ‘Yes, but what about the other seven years?’
“In those early games, and even at training, there was no indication that he was going to become the club’s talisman, or be such a prolific scorer.
“In fact, it took the unlikely appointment of Wim Jansen as Celtic’s manager – someone who had been struggling in Japan – to rescue Henrik’s career.
“Feyenoord didn’t know what they had, and were trying to offload him. It looked as though he might just meander back to Helsingborg, and never have been heard of again.
“But Wim knew about the release clause in Henrik’s contract, and saw something in him that no one else had.
“He doesn’t get the credit he deserves for this, but he’s the man who transformed Henrik into the superstar he became.
“I’d compare it with what Arsene Wenger achieved with Thierry Henry at Arsenal.
“However, it didn’t happen overnight. After that defeat to Hibs, we lost at home to Dunfermline and his first goal at Parkhead was an own goal in a UEFA Cup tie against Tirol Innsbruck!
“Gradually, though, it all began to come together.”
Larsson scored 19 times in his first season as Celtic won the title on the final day to end Walter Smith’s Rangers’ hopes of 10-in-a-row.
Burley added: “The year before I joined from Chelsea, we had signed Gianfranco Zola for £4.5m, which I regarded as the steal of the century.
“But Celtic got Henrik for £650,000. Average players nowadays make that in a month.
“Henrik overcame his difficult start, and he was soon making an impact.
“The very fact that a player as talented as he was stayed with Celtic for seven years is something that just wouldn’t happen now. But that was all down to him.
“He was happy in Scotland. He liked his colleagues, and was enjoying his football.
“Money was just a sideshow for Henrik. His main concerns were: ‘Am I playing well?’, and: ‘Is my family happy?’. He was, and they were.
“Some players can find the adulation of supporters a bit suffocating, but the more adored he was by the Celtic crowd, the better Henrik performed.
“He soaked up that energy and channelled it.”