ANOTHER EURO ROLLOVER AS CELTIC TO FACE ICELANDERS
Ex-Reykjavik boss Winnie insists Bhoys will sweep Icelanders aside again
DAVID Winnie knows KR Reykjavik better than most Scots, having spent two spells there as a player and manager, and winning a championship medal with them at the turn of the millennium.
But even with his legal eye for fine detail, the footballer-turnedsolicitor can deliver only one verdict on their prospects after they were drawn to meet Celtic in a one-off Champions League first-round qualifier at Parkhead.
Quite simply, he says, they have next to no chance.
Neil Lennon’s men will begin their latest attempt to progress to the lucrative and prestigious group phase of Europe’s elite tournament next week.
The Premiership champions have won all six of their previous ties against Icelandic teams, the latest being when Ronny Deila’s side beat Reykjavik home and away in the second qualifying round of the tournament in 2014.
Winnie, for his part, insists there will be no possibility of an upset this time either when his former club come to Glasgow.
A Scottish Cup winner with St Mirren as 20-year-old centrehalf in 1987, he went on to play for Aberdeen, Middlesbrough, Hearts and Dundee before taking a left-field career turn and trying his luck at Reykjavik in 1998.
He went on to become the club’s head coach, helping to save them from relegation in 2001 before stepping down as manager to concentrate on his new career as a solicitor, specialising in sports law.
Winnie met his wife while playing in the Icelandic capital and regularly returns to visit his in-laws. He spent a few weeks there last month and watched his old club in action.
KR Reykjavik have failed to progress beyond the qualifying rounds of the two major competitions in 20 attempts and Winnie, who is an Icelandic citizen, can’t foresee anything other than further disappointment.
‘We were back in the country for a holiday recently and I watched KR play,’ he said. ‘Like here, there are no spectators allowed inside the grounds, so I followed them on television.
‘They’re top of the league at the moment but it would be fair to say they’re not firing on all cylinders. They’re getting the job done by grinding out results but this isn’t one of the best teams the club has had.
‘Pablo Punyed is probably their biggest name. He’s a midfielder with 24 caps for El Salvador and he’s a decent player, but I wouldn’t say he’s any more than that.
‘However, apart from Kennie Chopart, a Danish striker who doesn’t have a record of being prolific, the squad consists only of home-based players.
‘The Icelandic national team has enjoyed its biggest success in the last decade or so but, although six members of the KR side have won full caps, they are not regulars.’
Winnie helped the club shock Scottish opponents 21 years ago when KR beat Bobby Williamson’s Kilmarnock 1-0 in the first leg of the UEFA Cup’s first qualifying round at the KR-vollur stadium.
It looked like curtains for Killie in the return at Rugby Park, too. Although KR played for almost 50 minutes with ten men after Winnie was shown a red card, the game remained goalless until the 90th minute when Paul Wright spared the Ayrshire club’s blushes by converting a penalty kick.
Then, with Gary Holt, Ian Durrant and Ally McCoist driving them on, winger David Bagan broke the visitors’ hearts with a stoppage-time winner.
Winnie, though, does not anticipate things being so close next midweek.
‘We had a few advantages back then,’ he said. ‘At that time of the year, we were two-thirds of the way through our campaign and everyone was fit and flying, whereas Scottish clubs would have had only just finished their pre-season training. They wouldn’t have been fully up to speed in terms of match sharpness.
‘However, the Covid-19 pandemic has taken that away.
‘All the cards are stacked against the minnows in this instance. KR are a solid team but they’re not free-flowing or exciting to watch and they don’t have anyone you could honestly describe as a game-changer in their ranks.
‘In fact, their biggest asset is probably their manager, Runar Kristinsson. As a midfielder, he won 104 caps, which is an Icelandic record, and he’s now in charge of KR for the second time.
‘He’s won the title three times with them, plus he’s taken charge of Lillestrom in Norway and Lokeren in Belgium — clubs he also played for — so he has plenty of experience.
‘I know Runar well. He’s a hero in Iceland and he’s done well everywhere he’s been but this Celtic tie looks like being too wide a gap for him to bridge.
‘He’ll have his team well organised and they’ll hope to hit Celtic on the counter. Because it’s a one-off game, their best bet would be to take it to a penalty shoot-out but that’s a big ask for them.
‘This is a pragmatic team. There isn’t really any flair in it and they certainly haven’t been setting the heather on fire with their performances. ‘If Celtic don’t approach the match in a professional manner, if they take KR too lightly, then I suppose they could have problems but I can’t imagine Neil Lennon would allow that to happen. ‘The fact is that Celtic are superior in every department. Unlike KR, they have players — like Odsonne Edouard, Mohamed Elyounoussi and James Forrest — who can win games on their own. KR don’t have a single player Celtic need to worry about. ‘Consequently, it’s impossible to look at anything other than a comfortable home win.’