"We had our moments but he respected me as a player, Craig recalls to FourFourTwo when asked about manager Jock Stein's influence during the run. I only wanted to know one question before a game: how fast was the opposition winger? If they were quicker than me I'd pull Bobby Murdoch closer. If I was quicker then I could catch him, but Jock would never tell me."
"He had more run-ins with Jimmy Johnstone. Jock was once giving a team talk and, when he finished, he asked if there were any questions. Jimmy's hand shot up, which was a surprise because Jinky had sat through the whole talk looking at his nails. Jimmy said, How long's the flight?' He was terrified of flying and that was all he was interested in, not the team talk or any of the tactical stuff."
"When the final came around, Craig got off to an unfortunate start, giving away an early penalty that meant his side went into the dressing room a goal down at half-time. It happened in the seventh minute. Jock was great, he said, Forget about it, just take care of the guy in the second half'. I had a chance to look at it afterwards and told him I thought it was an indirect free-kick [to Celtic, for simulation] and he agreed."
Celtic defeated Inter Milan 2-1 at the Estadio Nacional in Lisbon in 1967 to become the first British club to win the European Cup. The team consisted largely of homegrown players, with the majority born within a ten-mile radius of Celtic Park. Jim Craig played at right-back and added European football's biggest prize to 14 domestic trophies won during eight years with the club. Craig described Jock Stein's management approach, focusing on player responsibility for marking based on opposing winger speed. Jimmy Johnstone feared flying and often disregarded tactical talks. Craig conceded an early penalty in the seventh minute, and Stein urged him to concentrate on the second half.
Read at www.fourfourtwo.com
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