Swede Dreams: Memories of Mjallby

In November 1998, Celtic paid £1.5 million for a player from AIK in Sweden.

He was one of the great discoveries made by then manager Jo Venglos, who whatever else you might have said about him could certainly spot a footballer.

His name was Johan Mjallby.

He’s one of the best central defenders I’ve seen at Parkhead.

Oddly enough, he wasn’t signed as one.

He was signed as a central midfielder, someone to add some steel to a side that certainly needed it.

Mjallby’s debut for Celtic was a notable one. It was in the 5-1 demolition of Rangers, which also featured a goalkeeper who played only three games in our club’s colours (Tony Warner) and starred a certain little magician from Slovakia.

We should have known, and Rangers should have known, what we were getting with this guy; a no nonsense player who could stand up to anyone.

He looked like a Dolph Lundgren impersonator; he was big and physically imposing.

We were also to find out that he could play a bit of football too, but before that the Scottish game – and a certain rival player – were to get an early introduction they would never forget.

His debut performance is memorable to me because of something that happened early in the game.

For weeks the media had been bumming up the midfield displays of a certain Italian teenager in the Rangers team – one RIno Gattuso – who was, even then, developing his “hard man” reputation and pretty much bullying Scottish teams.

About ten or fifteen minutes into the match, Gattuso had the ball out on the right. He cut inside, hoping for a sniff at goal and Johan Mjallby simply ran right through him, like a train, taking the ball, leaving the Rangers player flailing on the pitch as if he’d been poleaxed.

Gattuso didn’t have a sniff for the rest of the day.

He retreated into himself and probably had to change his underwear at half time.

It was the first heads up that we didn’t have a Universal Soldier on our hands as much as we’d signed The Terminator.

To be honest, Johan looked out of sorts as a central midfielder although he was by no means the worst in the side at a time when things on the park weren’t going as well as we’d liked.

But Venglos had already spotted his talents as a defender, and played him more and more in that position.

By seasons end, Dr Jo had proven himself as a talent spotter and when the end of the season came and the board decided a change had to be made in the manager’s office he wasn’t shunted aside; he was moved into a scouting role and given a wide remit.

That was to prove an historic decision and one we’re still reaping the benefits of today.

The new management team, of Barnes and Dalglish, were pretty poor if we’re being blunt, and Johan, playing in midfield again as part of the bizarre 4-2-2-2 system looked a little lost at times.

He wasn’t the only one though.

Barnes’ experimental style, coupled with certain man management weaknesses and a lack of conviction, was never going to bring success and those failings did for him pretty early on, the crunch coming during the nightmarish 3-1 Scottish Cup defeat at Celtic Park against Inverness Caley Thistle, who were then a part-time team.

When Kenny Dalglish took over as interim coach he knew right away where big Johan should be playing and he moved him back to central defence, where he began to grow into the player we became familiar with over the next few wonderful years.

Martin O’Neill liked him from the first, and his arrival at the club saw big Johan with a new lease of life.

He played as part of Martin’s three man central defence, with Tom Boyd and Joos Valgaeren and quickly became a fans favourite.

Who can forget his towering performances in the Champions League? Or the role he played on our Road to Seville?

And not only was he capable enough at the back, but he scored 14 goals in a Celtic shirt too, and proved a formidable presence in the opposition box during set pieces.

Alas, big Johan was also troubled by injuries, and it was these more than anything else which led to his leaving Celtic Park.

He was offered a one year deal with the club but without a guarantee of the regular first team football he craved and his skills deserved.

He went to Levante in Spain, but like many players who have left Celtic Park he didn’t enjoy life after it much and eventually he returned to AIK, his first club, where he finished out his playing career.

But that wasn’t the final act in Johan’s Celtic involvement.

Fate was to bring him back to his real home, Celtic Park, when Tony Mowbray’s calamitous reign ended on a horrible night at St Mirren.

That evening saw Neil Lennon elevated to the manager’s job.

The big man came in as Neil’s assistant, and the two of them quickly instilled discipline in a team which had looked all over the place.

His presence at Neil’s side aided the young boss tremendously, and you could tell the great affection and respect they had for each other.

That partnership restored a passion to our club which had been lost in the latter part of Gordon’s tenure and with Tony failing to rekindle the flame.

When Neil talked about “bringing back the thunder” it invoked memories of he and Mjallby terrorising rival players and bossing the turf at Celtic Park.

They were a formidable team on that pitch and they proved just as effective off it.

Johan was also more than capable of getting front and centre when he had to, and nothing sums that up more to me than the way he took charge of the press conference in the aftermath of Neil being attacked at Tynecastle.

On that horrible evening, Alan Thompson was the first to react on the pitch.

Had Johan got to the guy the scumbag might well have ended up in traction.

When the dust had settled Neil asked his assistant to talk to the press.

Mjallby will probably never do a media conference like it.

He was visibly shocked, but an undercurrent of anger burned and you could see it.

His love for Neil, for Celtic and for football itself was evident throughout.

He was furious, but measured in his tone.

He clearly saw it as an offence not only against his friend and our club but against the sport.

Few men could have handled that moment in the way big Johan did and I’ve always thought that Neil was lucky to have such a friend beside him.

Indeed, the two are still together, down at Bolton, after their departure from the club at the end of the 2014 campaign.

Aside from his time at our club he also featured for his national team on 49 occasions, and sometimes works as a pundit for Swedish TV.

I find it, therefore, all the more curious that our own media has not yet found the time to ask him for his take on the coming Celtic v Malmo Champions League ties, although they’ve sought the wisdom of Robert Prytz, who last played in Scotland in the 80’s and is now a removal man.

Perhaps that’s because Big Johan might not tell them what they want to hear.

He ended his playing career with five league titles; two at AIK and three at Celtic. He also won two Swedish Cup’s, two Scottish Cups, two League Cups and a UEFA Cup runners up medal. The sight of him sitting on the turf at full time that night is one of my haunting, abiding memories of that evening. He deserved better.

He will be remembered as a Celtic great and one of the best foreign players ever to grace the Scottish game, but he’ll also be recalled fondly by those who met him off the park; he is a gentleman, a truly decent human being and was (and in many ways remains) a wonderful ambassador for our club.

We wish he and Neil every success in the coming season at Bolton.