Quit Sniping! Jan Isn't Idle .. He's My Idol

Feb 10 2008 By Gavin Berry

De Visscher Tells Critics To Lay Off Hero Dutchman Aberdeen V Celtic Today, Kick-Off 2pm Live Setanta Sports

JEFFREY DE VISSCHER can't believe former team-mate Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink comes in for stick at Celtic but he'd love to give the critics plenty of ammunition today by dumping his old pal.

The Aberdeen midfield ace admitted the towering Hoops hitman was his role model when he broke into the Twente Enschede top team as a kid.

That inspired De Visscher to make the grade and the Dutchman will pinch himself if they line up on opposite sides for the first time at Pittodrie today.

Vennegoor of Hesselink has divided the media and Parkhead faithful with the main criticism he doesn't work hard enough for the team.

But De Visscher can't understand that and said: "I've always considered Jan to be a great striker.

"Some people say he's limited but he scores goals, his headers are amazing and his finishing one-on-one with the keeper has been good in Scotland.

"Look at his goals-to-starts ratio in the last couple of years and you'll find it's a good average for a striker and that says enough about him.

"The Jan I know and his reputation in Holland is that he's anything but lazy.

He works hard but maybe his role makes it seem he's lazy.

"He's there to score goals and does that a lot, not to mention assists for Scott McDonald who is currently the top scorer in Scotland.

"At Twente Enschede, Jan was the main man. Every supporter loved him and he scored plenty of goals in a team that wasn't the best in Holland.

"He earned his move to PSV and there you could see what a class act he was. He never had any settling in problems, he just went and scored goals and has done the same at Celtic.

"Jan has done well and is a big player for Celtic. They are a huge club and if you survive and play every week and score that amount of goals surely nobody can argue you're not good.

"I haven't played against Jan since I came to Scotland and haven't had the chance for a chat with him.

"But I'm hoping after this game I can catch up and we can talk about our time in Holland. Jan started out like me - in the youths at Twente Enschede - and was young when he made it into the first team so was the role model for everyone in the academy.

"We trained together with the first team squad. Jan was always nice to the players in my age group because he knew where we were coming from.

"He tried to give us tips on how to improve and I'll never forget his advice.

"I still look up to him even today and aspire to achieve the type of things he has done in his career.

"It's funny to think that we could be playing against each other all these years later but it could happen and I just hope I'm on the winning side."

But Jeffrey knows the Dons will have more than his countryman to worry about when the SPL champions roll into the Granite City this afternoon.

He said: "The best player I've seen in Scotland is Aiden McGeady. He has great skills, passing ability and can score goals.

"In our game at Celtic Park, Scott Brown was unbelievable as well as McGeady so Scottish football should be proud.

"I was surprised how young they are and it's the same with Alan Hutton.

"When I watched him playing against Italy I assumed he was 28 or 29 so when I read he was 23 I was surprised. It shows what good players there are here."

De Visscher is desperate to be given the nod by Jimmy Calderwood today after being ditched from the squad for the midweek CIS Cup semi-final against Dundee United.

The combination of a family matter and a dismal display against Hamilton Accies in the Scottish Cup - he was taken off at the break - meant he was left out at Tynecastle.

But a 4-1 drubbing in that game could see Jeffrey recalled for the Hoops' visit.

And he is desperate to make amends if given the chance. He said of the Accies showing: "The whole team played poorly.

"But it was my worst game for Aberdeen and a horrible moment to be left out for the Dundee United match.

"I have some personal things to take care of in Holland which Jimmy Calderwood knew about and he said it was better for me to go home for a few days and clear my head.

"And after the performance against Hamilton it was no surprise I wasn't in the squad but my omission was a combination of family issues and the display.

"I started the game but it was no surprise I was hooked at the interval although luckilywe won when we could easily have lost 4-0 or 5-0.

"I don't know what happened, as a team we started badly.

"The first two balls I got I lost possession and if the team aren't playing well it's hard to recover from mistakes like that.

"The manager said to me I shouldn't be down because I was feeling low for two days after the Hamilton match so he told me to forget about it and try to focus on the Celtic game.

"Maybe it's his way of putting an arm around me.

"Jimmy is a good gaffer on the pitch and off it as well.

"I can go and speak to him about almost anything and he understands.

"I still wanted to play at Tynecastle and I know I could have sorted the family issues after that.

"But it wasn't to be and I'll have to bounce back from the Hamilton experience."