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Fullname: Reginald Waldi Blinker
aka: Regi Blinker
Born: 4 June 1969
Birthplace: Paramaribo, Suriname
Signed: 1997
Position: Winger
Internationals: Holland
International Caps: 3 caps

Biog

Regi Blinker is a name which provokes mixed emotions among Celtic fans.

The Surinam-born Dutchman - and £4.5m - were (in)famously 'traded' in a part-exchange deal with Sheffield Wednesday which saw crowd favourite Paolo Di Canio leave Glasgow and head to Hillsborough in August 1997. It was always going to be difficult for the dreadlocked winger to replace the mad but majestic Italian and in many ways he was always going to find life hard at Parkhead as he was viewed by some fans as a sign of the club's lack of ambition.

With Celtic desperatley trying to stop Rangers' seemingly unstoppable march to the dreaded tenth succesive championship, Blinker made a slow start to his career in the Hoops and even got himself sent off for elbowing an opponent during a dismal home defeat to Motherwell.

But he reacted well to that set back and from that point on made a noted if unspectacular contribution to the cause as the Bhoys lifted the Coca-Cola Cup (League Cup) and much more importantly the title, as they prevented their Old Firm rivals from bettering the 9-in-a-row league successes of Jock Stein's Celtic.

At times brilliant (seldom) but more often anonymous, Blinker's Celtic career was never to return to such heights as he all too often put in displays which showed glimpses of real talent whci were overshadowed by a distinct lack of courage. Inconsistent and ineffective he hit a low when he conceded a needless penalty in Celtic's shameful Scottish Cup exit to Inverness Caley in February 2000.

From that moment on his departure from the club was inevitable and after 12 goals in 57 appearances he headed home to Holland in a free transfer to RBC Roosendaal.

For all his faults it is perhaps a little cruel that in football rhyming slang the term Blinker has come to mean 'stinker' - (i.e. having a rubbish game). The whole Di Canio issue just hovered over his head, and comparisons were inevitable throughout his time at Celtic, and possibly the burden wore him down. It simply was a very poor swap deal (to put it mildly) and he was at the end of it. Bizarrely, Jock Brown (joint manager) who helped to sign him seems to not admit any errors in this.

Hope him all the best, and disappointingly for him he left just as Celtic really turned the corner with Martin O'Neill to arrive as manager and lead us on to a domestic treble amongst other great achievements.

Playing Career

Club	From	To	Fee	League		Scottish/FA Cup		League cup		Other
Sp. Rotterdam	17/06/2001		Free	No appearance data available
RBC Roosendaal	01/08/2000	17/06/2001	Free	No appearance data available
Celtic	06/08/1997	01/06/2000	£1,500,000	36 (12)	9	5 (2)	1	8 (0)	2	5 (4)	0
Sheff Wed	04/03/1996	06/08/1997	£ 275,000	24 (18)	3	1 (0)	0	2 (0)	0	0 (0)	0
Feyenoord	01/08/1995	04/03/1996		248 (3)	49	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0
Den Bosch	01/12/1988		Loan	25 (0)	6	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0
Totals			£1,775,000	333 (33)	67	6 (2)	1	10 (0)	2	5 (4)	0
			goals / game	0.18		0.12		0.2		0
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals

Honours

Indicate any known awards (player of the year, etc)

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