THE possibility that Celtic will go Dutch again was strengthened last night as sources in Holland suggested that the club may be interested in bringing Dutch national coach, Guus Hiddink, to Parkhead as successor to Wim Jansen. A 2-1 defeat in Portugal last night by Sporting Lisbon, in a friendly match arranged as part of the Jorge Cadete transfer, brought an end to Jansen's term in charge of Celtic.

Hiddink, who has managed PSV Eindhoven, Turkish side Fenerbahce, and Barcelona, ironically succeeded Dick Advocaat, who will coach Rangers next season, as manager of the Netherlands in the autumn of 1994 and was in charge of the side who played against Scotland during Euro 96.

A close friend of Scottish coach Craig Brown, brother of Celtic general manager Jock, Hiddink is due to end his stint with the national side after the World Cup finals in France next month. He has had extensive European experience, culminating in leading PSV to Champions' Cup success in 1988.

The Dutch also indicated, albeit to a lesser degree, that the less well-known Co Adriense, who has taken little Willem II to a UEFA Cup place for the first time for many years, may have been recommended to the Parkhead club.

Meanwhile, the man whose sacking at Parkhead perhaps was the catalyst for Wim Jansen's decision to leave Celtic, Davie Hay, yesterday insisted that the Dutchman will be remembered for a long time by supporters for what, in Hay's words, '' was a phenomenal achievement.''

Hay, who telephoned the former head coach on Saturday night to congratulate him on winning the championship, is in the middle of a tribunal case in which he is claiming unfair dismissal by the club, but he remains as dedicated a Celtic fan as ever. ''It must have been a very hard decision for Wim to make, because Saturday must have been an experience as great as anything he has enjoyed in his life,'' said Hay, who himself won the title as manager 12 years ago.

Hay got to know Jansen better than most in their scout-coach relationship when he identified nearly all the new players who helped bring about the resurrection of the club as champions of the country. ''Wim got to love Celtic and I am certain he did not want to leave,'' he said.

''He loved Scotland, so did his wife, and his kids came to love Celtic. All of that would have made it very hard for him to take his decision to go, especially after such a remarkable season.''

Hay, who was dismissed as assistant general manager/chief scout six months ago, had been brought to the club third time around - he was there as a player and then as manager - by Jansen's predecessor, Tommy Burns. When Burns left at the end of last season, followed by his assistant, Billy Stark, Hay stayed on as caretaker while the club searched for a new team leader.

He was appointed by managing director Fergus McCann as Brown's assistant when the new man arrived and Murdo MacLeod also came into the fold as Jansen's No.2. Hay has a few things in common with Lou Macari in that they are both former Celtic players and former managers, both were sacked by McCann, and both took the club to court. Macari, who takes his appeal for unfair dismissal to court next month, believes no-one will want to work for Celtic as long as McCann is there.

In typical Macari fashion, he said: ''I wasn't shocked by Wim's decision. I have worked with McCann and I know how difficult it is. You are not allowed to do the job properly because he interferes with everything. I would say McCann should look no further than himself when he is deciding who will be the next manager. This seems to be an exact replica of what happened to me and it just proves that he cannot help himself interfering.

''I heard him going on about business plans. Well, as every fan will tell you, the only business plan you need at a football club is to win matches.''

One contender is Leicester City manager Martin

O'Neill, but he said yesterday that he had not been approached by the club. He has two years of his contract to run and his club would demand #500,000 compensation. He said: ''As far as I know, it's all speculation.''

Last night's match was a forlorn farewell for Jansen. The stadium had only around 600 fans scattered in the stands and half of Celtic's regulars were missing.

So, too, was Cadete - his new club, Celta Vigo, in Spain, had refused to allow him to appear.

After 25 minutes Paulo Alves went past Alan Stubbs to score but four minutes before half-time Stubbs made up for his mistake when he equalised with a free kick after Harald Brattbakk had been fouled.

Eight minutes from the end, Saber sent in a cross and Gimenez was there at the far post to head home.

The few Celtic fans present cheered their team from the field, but really must have been wondering just why they had made the journey.

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