Vennegoor of Hesselink's derby memories

JAN Vennegoor of Hesselink may be experiencing foreign climes now but Celtic are never far away from his thoughts. The big Dutchman can’t quite put into words what the club means to him but he knows it’s significant, nonetheless.

The striker spent three seasons in Paradise, scoring 44 goals in 108 appearances, during Gordon Strachan’s reign as boss. On the whole, those were good times. He won every domestic honour in the Scottish game, including two league championship medals.
His contribution to those successes made him a fans’ favourite. Off the park, his young family, loved life in Scotland.

Good things must come to an end, however, and in 2009 he brought the curtain down on his spell in Glasgow, moving to Hull City in the English Premier League. After two seasons there, seeking a fresh challenge, the 32-year-old joined Rapid Vienna.
A promising start to his career in Austrian football was interrupted by injury, keeping him out until the start of their winter break.

With domestic football set to resume shortly in Austria, the striker has been honing his fitness – and catching up with some old friends – in Turkey with before the second-half of the campaign kicks-off.

But, despite a focus on ensuring a successful end to the season with his current club, he is well aware of the latest events at his former stomping ground and knows there are some big games on the horizon including Sunday’s clash with Rangers in the Scottish Cup.

Hesselink enjoyed some memorable moments in those encounters with Celtic’s arch-rivals. He remembers them vividly. And that was just one of the many subjects raised when the Celtic View caught up with the popular Dutchman for an exclusive interview

Celtic play Rangers in the Scottish Cup at the weekend. What were the derby games like to play in?
You need to play or be involved in it or at the ground. As a player on the pitch, it’s a one-off. I must say for me, it brings back great memories. I remember on January 2 this year, I was looking for a pub and I drove for 45 minutes but we finally found one and what a great result that was. It’s something that gets you and never disappears. I had some good and bad memories of the game but I think the good ones stay and the bad ones disappear. It’s a one-off. You can’t compare it to another game. When I stop playing football, I have some mates who want to go with me to the game because they couldn’t go when I was at Celtic as they were still playing as well. So when I stop playing, I think they will come back with me and enjoy the atmosphere. Like I said, it’s a one-off.

You enjoyed some memorable moments in those games. Probably the one that stands out is the last-minute winner you scored in the 2-1 victory in 2008. Was that your favourite derby memory?
I think so. I can also remember the first one that I played. At the start of the game you had the atmosphere of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, and every tackle was cheered. People talk about that and say it must be nice, but when you really experience it, it’s a totally different feeling. We won that game 2-0. Of course, there is also the last-minute winner against Rangers, and it was quite nice what happened a month later when we won the league. So it all came together then. So great memories and I think I will appreciate it even more when I stop playing football. But now I am still playing and you don’t stand still for too long with the things you have done in the game. Maybe afterwards you appreciate it more.

What was different about those games?
The intensity. It’s a rivalry and a well-known rivalry. There has been a lot said about it and I think everyone in the world knows about that derby and once in their life they want to be part of it. I had a lot of football friends too and they will say: ‘One time in my life, I want to go there’. It’s not just a football game, it’s more than that. It’s difficult to describe. You need to feel the vibe in the stadium when you're there. You can say it’s great, of course it is. But it’s more than that and you need to experience it. I was there three years and had some great experiences with that derby and maybe after I stop playing football I will enjoy it all even more. But we will see - I can’t look into the future.

So will you be tuning in this weekend if you are not playing for Rapid?
That’s always the thing. I had that last year when I played at Hull. Hopefully sometimes you get the chance to view it and, like I said, I saw the one on January 2 and that was good, so hopefully I will be at home or somewhere where I can view it.

 

loved the big man was one of my favourite players when he was here , top guy too .

 

Great player. Very nice person. Despite injuries he was still very important to us in his period here. One of the main reasons for 3 in a row.

 

I really liked Big Jan. I thought he was a good player for Celtic, one of Strachan's better signings.

 

Great to see he still has Celtic in his heart and still cheers us on on Old Firm day.

 

Loved the big man

 

top guy. a remember when a got a question answered by him in the celtic view after a sent it in

 

Your welcome back at paradise anytime big man
Good player and even better person

jan vennegoor of hesselink answers Celtics sos , save our season . They are STILL IN the title race

Quality stuff

 

great big player imo, his goal vs der hun is the best moment of my short life so far as a celtic fan. was my first derby.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caZK5R4avhs[/youtube]

 

Love him for that goal, that tackle on Novo, that goal at Tannadice and then him singing Fields Of Athenry after we won the league, seems like a really nice guy as well.

 

Started brilliantly with us, but his career really has been wrecked by injuries.

Despite that, his record here was pretty decent and he was one of these guys it was just hard not to like no matter what.

Cracking big fella, met him in Milan and he really is such a nice big guy. Stood for pictures and had a chat.

 

I miss big salt n' Venegoor,he was great for us and seems a genuinly nice guy.Good to hear from him and his memories.

 

I liked big Jan. Always thought he was under-appreciated by a lot of fans.

 

I still love the big man. I rooted him on at Hull City, even. He has hoops around his heart.

 

I miss van Vinnegar from Castlemilk, really good team player and a shame the way he tailed off.

 

jvoh is a great guy, wouldnt mind him coming back. great experience

 

true gent of a man. done a great shift for us when he was here!

 

Still has Celtic in his heart !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hail Hail

 

can't actually believe how many people are saying jan was a great player for us. apart from the last min winner against the forces of darkness and the goal at tannadice he was pure * for us. fair enough he might be a nice guy or whatever but to say he was great for celtic is the statement of someone who clearly never watched him week in week out

 

He ran like he was pulling a plough but he certainly knew were the net was