FORMER Celtic striker Mark Viduka’s ability was “frightening”, according to ex-Leeds team-mate Alan Smith.
The Australian hitman quit the Hoops for £6million in Martin O’Neill’s first piece of transfer business in the summer of 2000.
Cash from the Elland Road outfit helped the new Hoops boss fund the move for Chris Sutton, from Chelsea.
Viduka scored 59 goals in 130 league appearances for the Yorkshire side before he left for Middlesbrough in 2004.
Smith rated him a dream to play alongside when he was asked about former strike partners. He said: “They were all good, but I would say Mark Viduka was the best.
“Just before he signed, David O’Leary, the Leeds manager, came to me and asked: ‘What type of striker do you like to play alongside?’ I’d never been with a targetman and wanted to play with one.
“Mark came from Celtic and we hit it off straight away.
“He never looked like he was trying, but he always was. His skill for such as a big man was frightening.”
His skill might have been “frightening” but his attitude was appalling and he disgraced the hoops by spitting in a player’s face in a match away to Dunfermline.
