Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou delivers touching Wim Jansen tribute

By David Walton

January 25, 2022

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has joined in the tremendous Wim Jansen tributes as he delivered some touching remarks of his own.

Wim has sadly passed away aged 75, confirmed today by his beloved former club Feyenoord. The news has left great sadness amongst the Celtic support who have been flooding in the tributes for their legendary Dutchman.

Jansen was in charge of the Hoops during the 1997/98 campaign in which he famously stopped the 10. To this day it remains one of the most important seasons in Celtic’s history.

The mark he left on the club continues to be felt widely to this day, and it’s something Ange was also keen to touch on at his pre-match press conference today.

In comments provided by Clyde 1 on Twitter, Ange said: “It’s sad news for his family, for our football club and all of the organisations he’s been involved with. A massive name in Dutch football both as a player and as a manager.

“I’ve often said that for all of us, we get the privilege of coming through these clubs and our iltimate ambition is to leave some sort of mark and some sort of legacy. He did that in 12 months. The impact he had in just 1 year at this football club is just fantastic. Obviously a similar journey to mine from Japan to here. He’s left an indelible mark.

“For all of us, what you hope for is that at the end of it when you stop doing what you love, along the way you’ve belonged somewhere and you’ve made a mark somewhere because that keeps what you’ve done alive. And with Wim that’s definitely the case, both in Dutch football and particularly at our club. He’ll be forever remembered.”

Scottish and Dutch football in mourning at loss of a true great

Jansen’s effect on Celtic in the space of one year is absolutely unheard of. The success he brought and the jubilation he gave to a craving support in such a short period of time will never be forgotten in Glasgow.

Not only did Wim stop the 10 of course, but he was also the man who brought the sensational Henrik Larsson to Parkhead back in 1997. Larsson is today widely acknowledged as the club’s greatest ever striker.

The only regret for Hoops supporters is that it was indeed only 1 campaign for Wim in charge of the Hoops. The mind still wonders at what could’ve been had Wim truly been backed after that surreal title success.

Given his impact at Celtic Park, Wim’s passing is also a sad day for Scottish football as a whole. It was he who gave this nation one of the most dramatic campaigns in its entire history. One of the campaigns we can all be proud of as Scottish football fans.

Wim’s first and main love, of course, was Feyenoord. Whilst his impact on Scottish football was a short one, the same can’t be said of his career back in his homeland. He spent 15 years with Feyenoord as a player after coming through their youth ranks and also 12 years in varying coaching and upstairs capacities at De Kuip.

His loss marks a sad day for us all, with Celtic, Feyenoord, Scottish, and Dutch football all in mourning. Ange’s comments couldn’t be more apt.