Henrik Larsson

Happy birthday you wonderful man.

 

Hope he has a brilliant 50th birthday. There aren’t strong enough words to describe how much we as a fan base love him.

 

So many great memories. What a guy.

 

An absolute *.

 

When he first signed for celtic my dad was only a couple years older than me now.. scary as *.

 

Was everything to me. Still is..

I'll never have that attachment to a player again. No even close..

 

I am and always will be attached to Paul McStay as well as Henrick Larsson as the Maestro was who I grew up idolizing in the hoops as a kid and then along came the King to sit right alongside him.

 

Whenever i feel down when things are not going well with Celtic I think of him and it always gives me a boost.
A Celtic Mega Legend!

 

Happy birthday to the King of Kings. Some great memories of him especially Seville season

 

All Hail King Henrik

 

You are famous for playing for Celtic and winning many trophies during your time in Scotland. You also reached a European final in 2003 against Jose Mourinho’s Porto. Just how highly do you rate the Celtic side that you played in? Could you have competed in the Premier League?

“Where would that team have finished in England? Top four. Without a doubt.

“We beat Liverpool, Blackburn… we beat a lot of good teams in that run [to the UEFA cup final]. We played as well — or even better — than a Porto team that went on to win the Champions League, so it showed just how strong we were.

“There were about 15 internationals in that squad — important players for their countries. I think a lot of people tend to forget we had a really strong squad. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to win the big final.

“That would have been the icing on the cake for that squad.”



Do you still think about that UEFA Cup final and what could have been?

“Obviously, I thought about it for many years. At the same time, you have to get on with it, but winning that medal and being able to share that with the fans and my teammates would have been a dream come true.

“Fate wanted something else. It just shows what a team we had and how good we were.

“Representing Celtic was just fantastic. Those are the games that you want to perform in and play well in. You are up against the best players. It was just fantastic.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to do that well in the Champions League. We did better in the UEFA Cup, which, still to this day, I cannot understand how we lost that game against Porto. We should have won, to be honest.





Since retirement from playing and embarking on your coaching career, youare always linked with the Celtic job. Is that something you are used to now?

“You’re right, it’s been like that, and to be honest I think it will always be like that in the years ahead while I’m in this line of work.

“For me, that’s just the way it is as I’m so connected with Celtic that my name will always be mentioned there. I’m so fortunate to still be remembered as a player and hopefully as a person as well.

“It isn’t a burden in any way. It’s a blessing.”








In the future, is the Celtic job something that you aspire to do?

“Time will tell if things are going to be like that. It’s impossible for me to give an answer that isn’t misinterpreted by some. So as I say, time will tell if things will be like that.”





You have been linked with other managerial posts in the UK. Is managing in the UK something that’s high on your agenda for the future?

“Yes. It’s a culture I’m accustomed to and a language that I have a decent grasp of. Of course it would interest me, however it’s very tough to get in. You need to know the right people or the right agent.

“I’ve had a few projects and proposals put to me but I just felt that they weren’t right for me. Although, if one day an interesting offer comes my way then I will consider it.

“Crucially it has to be a club and an owner that is on the same wavelength as me because that is the most important thing.”



I want to ask you about a fellow teammate at Celtic who was not well known when he arrived in Scotland. That player is Lubomir Moravčík. Did you know him before he arrived at the club and what was he like to play alongside?

“I didn’t know anything about him to be honest, but it only takes one practice to see just… wow, he has something.

“Still, to this day, I don’t know if he’s left-footed or right-footed! That’s crazy! I’ve never seen a player hitting the ball as sweetly with both feet.

“The vision he had to see the game and see runs was just fantastic. He’s most definitely one of the best players I’ve ever played with.

“Also, he’s a great guy. I bump into him every now and then and it’s always a pleasure to speak with him.”

 

Legend!

 

He’s still in really good shape, she’s no bad either lol

 

Better than Ajeti now..

 

CHRIS SUTTON has revealed the best quality his former Celtic strike partner Henrik Larsson possessed on the pitch.

The Hoops heroes enjoyed a fruitful, goal-laden spell together at Parkhead Martin O’Neill between 2000 and 2004, picking up three league titles, two Scottish Cups and the League Cup

Sutton said that the best thing about the Swedish legend, who scored 242 goals for Celtic and won the Golden Boot in Scotland five times was actually how UNSELFISH he was.


Although when he first spoke to Larsson, Sutton told of how he picked up that he was moody and felt he had to reassure him that he was there to help him and not take his place in the team.

He told Open Goal: “I was aware of him, but the Swedes are a funny lot, they’re kind of moody.


But we were on the coach to Denmark for a game and I said to him ‘I’m here to help you, if I see you in a better position I will pass it to you’ and from that day on he was as good as gold.

“He was a phenomenal player but the best thing about him was, well I always thought, was that he was so unselfish.

“He was a brilliant finisher but also a great team player.




He could’ve played in a number of positions and play them well.



“He had a great football brain.

“He was very individual in terms of his goal scoring numbers and he was the best, in terms of any strike partnership that I’ve had, he was the best.

“That’s not a dig at Alan Shearer but when I was at Blackburn with Shearer, that was when I was 20, by the time I was at Celtic I knew my game better.”

Sutton recalled how Larsson’s genius sometimes bordered on the stupid because of the outrageous skills he had with the ball at his feet




Not least evidenced by his famous chipped goal against Rangers in 2000 when Celtic won 6-2 in the Old Firm derby.

Sutton said: “It was 3-1 or 3-2 but Larsson scores his goal where he jinks past four of them and that’s where he was just a cut above.



You know how difficult it is with the ball running away from you and it’s a big game, an enormous moment, and then you scoop it over the keeper?

“That’s a ridiculous skill. You think you’d need to be an idiot or a genius to do that. There’s nothing in between. And you know, he could do that a lot.

“To have the audacity to do that was incredible.”

Larsson left Celtic after his contract expired in 2004 and Sutton said it left the dressing room at Parkhead feeling hollow.

But Sutton loved how Larsson went on to great success after leaving Scotland because it proved to everyone how good he really was.

He said: “He done seven years in the end, but you’re losing your biggest hitter, the guy who bails you out every week.





We knew it was never going to be the same again and there was a sort of hollow feeling.

“But nobody could begrudge him that move. I always liked the fact that he shoved two fingers up to everybody who badmouthed the Scottish league. He scored goals at international level and at Champions League level and didn’t really get the recognition for it.

“There was still a feeling of ‘Oh, it’s Scottish football.’

“And then he went to Barcelona and won them the Champions League with his display in the final, and went to Manchester United when he was ‘done’ and the United fans loved him.

“He was brilliant for them and that was at the end of his career. Imagine if he had gone in his prime? How could you replace him?”

 

Pretty sad what's going on with Barca now with Henke.

Wonder where he will go next