Managers post Celtic

04/03/01: JC - “They dominated the game. That is the biggest beating that I have had at East End Park since I arrived here 15 months ago.

Jimmy Calderwood conceded:-

"It was a very poor performance from Dunfermline and a very good performance from Celtic. As always when we are playing badly our passing goes. We were very poor on the ball.

"What annoyed me was that we didn’t get close to them in the tackles; we weren’t winning tackles and Celtic were a lot stronger. You know that if the other team has more quality you have to get into them and we didn’t do that.

"They dominated the game. That is the biggest beating that I have had at East End Park since I arrived here 15 months ago. We were a well beaten team today; all credit to Celtic.

"We didn’t really hurt them the whole day. They were dangerous in dead ball situations and it was a very strong performance from Celtic. Even if we played our best with the form Celtic were in it would have been difficult for us.

"I took Ian Ferguson off as a precaution because of the way he is and a wee bit of background probably. We know how he is; he has that nature that loves winning football games. It might go against him because we have a lot of hard games coming up. It was hard enough with eleven out there; if we had ended up with ten it would be even more difficult. We took him off top protect him.

"We sit down and think hard about the tactics for every game; Andy Tod is suspended for Wednesday, I don’t think we have any injuries so it is a completely different game. After losing 3-0 at home to Celtic everyone will expect us to go there and get annihilated. But football is a funny game and we will go there and give it our best shot. I’d like to think that we could play better than we did today.

"We have got the players, we know what our quality is and we can change the tactics a little bit. I don’t think they worked today. It is all credit to Celtic they made us look poor."

Celtic manager Martin O`Neill said:

"I thought we were terrific today from start to finish. I couldn’t have asked for any more. I thought our play was fantastic and we deserved to win. The goals were an absolute treat, no doubt about it. We were coming here; you are obviously very concerned about all matches that you play but away from home against Dunfermline – they lose very seldom here this season.

"Our last game we were unable to see through but this one was important because it was a league match. Following on from results yesterday it was important for us to win so we did. To win it in some style was magnificent for us."

And of Neil Lennon, O’Neill added:-

"Given the week he`s had it was magnificent for him to score and for me personally he has played like that ever since he arrived up here just before Christmas. His performances have been of such a level that sometimes I find it difficult to distinguish one from the other. He was magnificent again today.

"There was never any question that he wouldn`t play today, it never entered my head. He got very good support from the fans and he has become a bit of a cult hero with the fans who have elevated him to an even higher status. Had his experiences in Belfast in midweek upset Lennon?

"I haven`t really discussed the matter with him any further apart from a short time on Friday morning. He was up for the game and there was never any question of him not playong. "He enjoyed playing that match today and he was ready for the game and his performance proved that.

"He was delighted to score which is a fairly rare occasion and his next one will probably be the next millennium.

"But it was a great goal for him and I`m naturally delighted for him."

With the Cup replay coming next does Martin O’Neill consider that the cup tie was a tactical victory for Jimmy Calderwood?

"People will read whatever they want into the game but we scored a couple of goals we didn’t see it through up to the death and Dunfermline got, what I consider in the circumstances, a deserved equaliser. We now have a difficult game against them on Wednesday, but today we were very strong, very competitive and I thought we were magnificent."