REGI BLINKER didn’t quite receive the usual warm welcome from the Celtic support normally reserved for new signings.
It was absolutely no reflection on the qualities of the 28-year-old Dutch winger after he joined from Sheffield Wednesday in August 1997 to reunite with his one-time Feyenoord boss Wim Jansen.
Blinker was brought to Parkhead in part-exchange for fans’ favourite Paolo di Canio after the Hoops’ hierarchy had insisted the controversial Italian would NOT be sold.
NET PROFIT…Regi Blinker is smiles better after scoring on his debut against Berwick Rangers.
However, when the former AC Milan ace was spirited across the border to Hillsborough in an overall deal worth around £4.5million, general manager Jock Brown attempted to quell the frustration of the club’s followers by stating Di Canio had not been sold, but simply “traded” as part of the deal for Blinker.
The words cut no ice with the fans and, unfortunately, the new Bhoy was at the centre of a storm not of his making.
Jansen gave the tricky touchline operator a quickfire debut in the League Cup-tie against Berwick Rangers a week later and the player claimed a goal and performed well in a runaway 7-0 success.
A red card for elbowing an opponent in one of his early appearances – a 1-0 loss to Motherwell – didn’t help his cause, but he recovered sufficiently to play in the 3-0 victory in the League Cup Final – then under the guise of the Coca-Cola Cup – as the Hoops walloped Dundee United with goals from Marc Reiper, Henrik Larsson and Craig Burley.
CRUNCH…Regi Blinker feels the force of a slide tackle from Rangers defender Craig Moore as Giovanni van Bronckhorst joins in.
Blinker was the bewildering blend of wonderful and woeful and his erratic performances drove supporters to distraction at times, but he was still an important part of the squad that helped Celtic win their first title in a decade in 1998 – and prevent Rangers from achieving 10 in a row.
That was as good as it got for the unpredictable forward. He was involved in one of the darkest nights in Hoops history when John Barnes’ side were humiliated by Inverness Caley Thistle at Parkhead on the evening of February 8 2000 and dumped out of the Scottish Cup.
After 12 goals in 70 appearances spread over three years, Blinker left at the end of his contract for RBC Roosendaal in his homeland. They were relegated from the top flight two years later and Blinker switched to Sparta Rotterdam.
Remarkably he suffered the same fate there and in 2003 he quit professional football to play for amateur outfit Deltasport Vlaardingon.
He retired from the game in 2006 at the age of 37.
* TOMORROW: Don’t miss the adventures of another former Celt in CQN’s EXCLUSIVE series.
