Enrico Annoni

Name: Enrico Annoni

DOB: 1 July 1966 (age 47)

POB: Giussano, Italy

Position: Right back or centre back

Clubs: Seregno, Como, Sambenedettese, Torino, Roma, Celtic

Internaional Caps: Three (Italy U-21)

There are few better examples of Fergus McCann’s frugality than the transfer saga which eventually brought Enrico Annoni to Celtic. Even though, on this occasion, the Celtic chief was right to haggle down the price for the Italian defender, the Parkhead support saw the episode as another proverbial stick to beat their owner with. Annoni was a good player for the Hoops, the definition of a cult-hero some would say, but not worth the £1 million fee originally demanded by his previous club.

Annoni began his career as a 16-year old in the humble surroundings of Seregno, a town of 50,000 that housed a football team of the same name that competed in the fourth tier of Italian football. Immediately it became obvious that Annoni was someone who’d slipped through the cracks in the youth scouting of larger clubs, and Como immediately righted the wrong by bringing the defender up to Serie B for the beginning of the 1983-84 season. Annoni, still a fresh faced youngster, didn’t play much but he did watch on as the club clinched promotion to Serie A. Jumping up a level restricted his first team chances further and when he didn’t play in the 1984-85 season, where Como safely stayed away from relegation, the club decided that it would be best for his development if he moved out on loan to Sambenedettese. In total he spent two full season with the minnows, helping them secure their position within Italy’s second division.

Annoni was a hard, no-nonsense defender and the fans loved his bruising style the more opposing centre forwards shirked it out of his challenges. The reason why he wasn’t getting a look-in at his parent club was because Como already had a hard-man defender of their own: Signore Pasquale Bruno; who Annoni most certainly would have learnt a few pointers from. In 1987, Bruno moved up and away from struggling Como to Juventus and Annoni was recalled from his loan to take his place. The first season couldn’t have went any better. Como easily avoided relegation and Annoni stood out as a hot young prospect in their back four. Unfortunately the good times did not last long. The team suffered relegation from Serie A the following campaign. Despite interest in his services, Annoni decided to stick around and help try to get the club back into the top flight. Instead, they suffered back-to-back demotions and dropped into Serie C.

Despite the dreadful form displayed by his team, Torino were wise enough to spot the talent in Annoni and brought him back up through the divisons in 1990. He must have experienced a feeling of deja-vu when it emerged that The Granata would also be signing his former team-mate Bruno. Instead of starting one and using the other as reserve, however, Torino decided that their defence would be at its strongest with the two playing together – with extra emphasis on the word “strong”. For three seasons the pair terrorised any attacker who happened to drift into their vicinity as Torino enjoyed success at home and on the continent. At the end of the 1991-92 season, Annoni had his first chance at lifting a major piece of silverware when Torino made it all the way to the UEFA Cup Final to meet Ajax. Back in those days the competition was a two-legged affair even in the final and the opening game would take place in Italy. Twice Torino fell behind but on both occasions Walter Junior Casagrande brought them back into the game. However, the draw would be at a cost. Both Bruno and Annoni had picked up bookings in the match, ruling them out of the game in Amsterdam. The Torino defence held firm but could not get themselves on the scoresheet, agonisingly losing the final on away goals.

The tie-breaker system would soon be kind to the defender when, the very next season, Torino reached the final of the Coppa Italia, where they would face Roma. Once again it was a two-legged contest and the first game in Turin was a happy one for the hosts as they ran out 3-0 winners. There was a blow for Annoni, however, after he limped off at half-time and would be ruled out of the return leg in a major final for the second successive year. This time Torino did miss his services. Roma hammered five past the visitors before the clock had even hit 70 minutes, including a hat-trick of penalties for Giuseppe Giannini. Keeping Torino ahead in the contest had been Andrea Silenzi (the striker who would later flop with Nottingham Forest) who netted a brace. Somehow the away side managed to shore up their defence enough to repel a rampant Roma over the final 30 minutes and won their first Italian cup in 22 years.

It was enough to get them into Europe for that season but they had been unable to replicate the league form of the previous two terms. The trend continued the next year when they had to settle for an eighth place finish. Recognising that Torino were on the way down Annoni agreed to a switch when Roma came calling. He settled in well with the club from the capital, playing weekly as the team posted consecutive fifth place finishes and qualified for the UEFA Cup on each occasion – while Torino continued their slide and were relegated at the end of 1995-96.

Annoni started 1996-97 as a regular in defence but occasionally found himself pushed out to the sidelines and with his contract up at the end of the campaign it was not a good sign for the ageing defender. His club had made noises about signing Vincent Candela and the Frenchman’s arrival would further crowd an already competitive back four corps. That’s when Tommy Burns and Celtic came calling.

Thus began the saga. Celtic’s interest was first reported on January 16th. Eight days later it emerged that the chances of signing him were reducing after Roma had been rebuffed in their first attempt to capture Candela. Roma soon decided they would let Annoni leave anyway, but soon became exasperated with Celtic’s negotiating. The fee had originally been £1 million, but Celtic were wanting the player for under half that amount, citing his dwindling contract as the reason. While this was on-going, Roma decided to let the player talk to the club anyway. Annoni found McCann equally as tough as his club had, with the two haggling over the length of the deal. This was February 8th. On Febuary 20th, over a month after interest first became public, Celtic finally had their man. McCann had won one of the battles, getting the fee down to a figure believed to be around £300,000, but lost the other as Annoni signed a three-and-a-half year contract, becoming one of the highest paid players at the club.

The new signing was expected to bring something different to the Celtic defence. With the likes of Alan Stubbs and Tom Boyd they were very comfortable in playing the ball out from defence. However, they were notorious for giving away cheap goals. Annoni’s no-nonsense style was supposed to improve things on that front as Celtic chased Rangers for the league title. The attack was fine, Paulo Di Canio and Jorge Cadete were banging them in, so if they sorted out the back-line then they would have a real chance of catching their neighbours.

Things started well enough. He made his début playing right-back in a 2-0 win over Hearts. It was an assured performance but the strength of opposition would be much greater in his next match: an Old Firm Scottish Cup derby. The game would be at Celtic Park, giving his new side a slight advantage cancelled out by the fact that the hosts had not defeated Rangers in nine games. In the end goals from Malky Mackay and Paulo Di Canio within the first 20 minutes were enough to win the tie. The rot had been stopped and Celtic had sent a clear message to their rivals: we’re coming for you.

Or so they thought. They let their focus slip in the very next match with a poor performance and 2-0 defeat to Kilmarnock. Annoni made an acrobatic goal-line clearance that caught the attention of the crowd but he couldn’t stop the defeat. Things then got a whole lot worse the next week when Rangers returned and won 1-0 on league duty in a match remembered for on-field fighting more than anything else. Walter Smith’s side maintained a 100% record against their rivals in the four league games that season – the first time it had ever happened. Subsequent draws against Dunfermline and Raith Rovers lost any hope of denying Rangers equalling Celtic’s nine-in-a-row record. They then suffered the ignominy of exiting the Scottish Cup to First Division Falkirk. Annoni played in the first game but was injured and missed the replay. The season finished with the sacking of Tommy Burns.

Upon returning from injury the following season, Annoni found his route to the first team blocked by the recent aquisition of Marc Rieper in a bid by new boss Wim Jansen to finally shore up the defence. Annoni would soon get his chance when injuries forced Rieper from action and meant Celtic were short on cover for the second leg of their UEFA Cup away tie at Liverpool. Having drawn the first leg 2-2, the pundits weren’t giving Celtic much of a chance, but they battled their way to a respectable 0-0 draw and exited on away goals. Annoni and the rest of the defence were given many a back-handed compliment by the media who praised their performance on the night but couldn’t believe it had actually occured given their prior displays.

The Italian stayed in the side for a period thanks to the injury problems that seemed to effect only the defence. At one point Jansen went with a 3-4-3, with Annoni playing alongside Boyd and David Hannah in order to knit together a strong side. Just as Annoni was beginning to get praise for his improvement he was outpaced by George O’Boyle in the lead up to the striker’s goal in a 1-0 defeat at St Johnstone. It was not what Celtic fans wanted to see with a vital Old Firm clash just three days away. They should never have worried. Annoni turned in the performance of his Celtic career as the hosts ran out 2-0 winners. The Italian was tasked with marking Laudrup; a daunting prospect but one he took to with gusto; completely subduing the Rangers legend over 90 minutes of football.

He may have enjoyed a run in the side, but in January of that campaign he was forced to return to Italy to be beside his father who was seriously ill. Upon his return he found his route to the starting eleven blocked once more, and for the first time made his feelings known on the matter; stating that he would be looking for a transfer if first team football was not guaranteed. While his words fell on deaf ears he was able to force his way back into the set-up and played a role in Celtic’s key 1-0 victory over Aberdeen as they closed in on the title. Even two losses to Rangers in consecutive weeks – in league and cup – could not derail the march. It looked increasingly likely that Celtic would finally halt Rangers title sequence just when they were about to break their previous record. Annoni was part of the team that went to Dunfermline in the penultimate match requiring a win to clinch the league. It looked certain to happen only for Craig Falconbridge’s late goal to snatch a draw for the hosts and delay Celtic’s celebrations. Finally, after nine agonising years and a few agonising days waiting on the moment to happen, Celtic secured the Scottish Premier League with a 2-0 win over St Johnstone on the final day. It had been Annoni’s most consistent spell as a Celtic player and the fact that it coincided with such a historic moment meant he would forever retain a place in the hearts of the Celtic faithful. Unfortunately, most sporting relationships do not have happy endings.

Celtic’s 1998-99 title defending campaign was played amid a backdrop of bonus disputes and the Mark Viduka saga. It also included one unhappy Italian. After making an error in a dismal September draw with Dundee – Annoni cleaned out Eddie Annand in the penalty area deep into stoppage time – he was omitted from the line-up. It prompted him to make another ultimatum later in the month. In truth, his continued absence from the Celtic team throughout the season was down to bad luck more than anything else. Whenever Stubbs or Rieper would go down, so would Annoni. During a match with Aberdeen, he got a start in the absence of the other two, only to accidentally collide with Tom Boyd and strain his hamstring. When he returned to fitness, so had Stubbs.

He got one final chance towards the end of the season, but in hindsight perhaps wish he hadn’t. Things started well enough when he stabbed the ball through for Mark Viduka (finally playing in a Celtic shirt) to score the second goal in a 2-0 win over Dundee United in the Scottish Cup semi-final. From there, however, he made an error in an away match at Dunfermline as Celtic’s league season petered out with Rangers reclaiming the title. Thanks to injuries he kept his place for the Scottish Cup final where his side looked to stop their rivals winning the treble. Manager Dr Josef Venglos made a curious tactical decision by tasking Annoni with marking Rod Wallace. Afterwards the decision was met with widespread derision from Celtic fans and objective onlookers. The ageing defender clearly didn’t have enough pace or stamina to chase the quick-footed Wallace around the park, being continually embarrassed by the Englishman’s quickness. It was no surprise when Annoni was hooked. Fittingly, Wallace scored the game’s only goal.

Changes were once again made at the manager’s position, with John Barnes coming in as head coach and Kenny Dalglish as director of football. Without seeing him play they decided to release Annoni from his contract a year early, which the player was happy to accept as it meant he could return to Italy to be with his father. Instead of finding a local club he decided to retire.

Where is he now? For many years Annoni worked as a youth coach and pundit in Italy before landing a job with Padova in July this year as assistant manager. It didn’t last long. He was sacked in September and is currently looking for another coaching role in his native land.

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