Martin O’Neill returns to Celtic as interim manager alongside Shaun Maloney

The timing is crucial for the changeover of manager.. we've got really tough fixtures in Nov.. including 3 away games on the bounce.. St. Mirren, Feyenoord and Hibs, could shape our season... if going well maybe leave it alone until Jan?

 

Which January mate?

 

When Martin O’Neill walked back into Celtic Parkthis week, two decades after leaving, it wasn’t to bask in nostalgia or to revive past glories. It was to steady a ship that had lost its course.

The abrupt collapse of Brendan Rodgers' reign on Monday left the Celtic squad reeling. In that moment of upheaval, the club turned to one of its most iconic figures to restore a sense of order, and perhaps, to remind everyone of what this club used to feel like.

By Wednesday night, O’Neill was already guiding Celtic to a morale-boosting win with an attacking swagger that had been absent for months. It felt familiar to many in the stands, but for the man in the dugout, the week has been altogether odd.

“Seriously, I know I've been saying these words, and I can't find any other word, but it was really, really strange,” he said. “It was just not having any time to think about it. From Monday afternoon until Wednesday evening, it was like five minutes. Genuinely, it seemed like five minutes. It's just to not be in that dugout for 20 years, you know?”




I'm never really sure that I've enjoyed it'
O’Neill has never been one for sentimentality. Even as he soaked up adulation from a fanbase that still sings his name, he admitted that his feelings around the thrill of management have always been complicated.

“I enjoyed the last 10 or 12 minutes, when we scored the fourth goal. I thought, I can sit down now, we're going to win the game, and that's it,” he reflected. “Sometimes I have a bit of fun, but I wonder whether I've ever really enjoyed it over all my time. I think I enjoyed the play, which was great. I'm never really sure that I've enjoyed it. I'm that type of character, maybe, just a miserable git.

“I hardly slept a wink before the game. I was really concerned about the match, particularly not knowing every player intimately in the manner in which I'd like to do. And not exactly sure what might materialise in front of us. What sort of reaction would you get from the players then at that time, what with confidence not being at its highest? All those little things go through your brain very, very quickly.”

It's a reminder that O’Neill’s relationship with football has always been driven by the intensity of competition rather than outright joy.

“I don't think I've ever lost the bug. I really did miss the game,” he said. “Sometimes I used to think that in seasons gone by I could do equally as badly as some of the other boys are doing.”

O’Neill, ever the observer, knows that football has changed in the six years since he last had a job in management, never mind the 20 since he was last in the Celtic post.

“My wife said to me, don't say the modern game because then you are outdated, and you probably are,” he said. “But I think today's game is one for young coaches, young coaches coming into the game. Because of the model at the moment - foreign owners, foreign agents getting their people in first of all - I just think that's the case. So I don't think there's any real room for somebody who might have some experience.”

Then came the self-aware punchline. “Well, actually, strangely enough, you could have all the experience in the world and still be crap.”

Since his last managerial stint at Nottingham Forest ended abruptly, he admits he stepped away from the game almost entirely. “I think I kind of hid away,” he said. “I never had anybody working for me. I've never had an agent my whole time anyway.

“Don't get me wrong, I didn't feel great about it. Particularly at a club where I'd spent 10 years as a player with a fair amount of success. You're forgotten very, very quickly in the game. I totally understand that.

“If you had asked me, would this ever happen, I'd have thought, an impossibility, an absolute impossibility. But it doesn't mean you don't miss the game. And I think I will miss the game when they are putting the lid on me. Which might not be that long.”

If there was one moment that pierced through O’Neill’s modest detachment this week, it was the reception he received from Celtic supporters. It's clear the bond between them remains intact.

“Oh, that was lovely, I must admit. Really nice,” he said. “I remember being at Tannadice one day and it was the first time I actually heard the crowd behind the goal chanting my name. They were shouting for 10 minutes until the physiotherapist said to me, they're chanting your name. At this football club, you have to earn your stripes, first of all.”

Few have earned them like O’Neill who, between 2000 and 2005, led Celtic to seven major trophies and re-established belief in Europe. The respect that era still commands explains why fans have greeted his return with such warmth despite ongoing conflicts with the club's board, and why some are already wondering if he might stay longer than planned.

O’Neill is quick to shut that talk down.

“Oh, no, no, that's... please, please,” he said, brushing off the suggestion that a convincing derby win against Rangers might put him in contention for the job. “The only people who would be saying that is my two daughters! You have to win the game and you're right back to square one again if you don't win the game. It's a massive match for both clubs.

“Secondly, there's an international break coming up, you know, and I genuinely haven't spoken to Mr Desmond. I'd spoken to him the other night there, but I think my remit was that they would be looking for somebody pretty quickly.”




Old feelings and rivalries return
Though he's not seeking nostalgia, it's almost impossible to escape. There was a flicker of the old O’Neill on the touchline this week - arms outstretched, the leap in celebration, even as time takes its toll.

“I have a bad knee, really bad knee, honestly, I have to get it sorted out. But I did it, sometimes you don't even know that you are doing it,” he said.

The adrenaline hasn't dulled, nor has the nervous energy that once defined his Rangers preparations. O’Neill’s dynamic with Celtic's derby fixtures has always been defined by emotional endurance.

“You know the first one, we won 6-2. Chris Suttonscored with two minutes to go, and I thought, ‘we're going to win here’. And that was the sixth goal. That's how much you enjoy it. I was absolutely, emotionally and physically drained after them. The whole lot, honestly.”

Still, O’Neill has always understood what these derbies mean. Asked about chaotic, fiery meetings that he's experienced beforr, he said knowingly, “Oh, they just erupt, absolutely, yeah. They did. You didn't feel as if it was an Old Firm game if it didn't. Sorry, I shouldn't say that before this game coming up, I will be accused of starting a riot.”

He’s not expecting or encouraging mayhem on Sunday, but he can tap into the temperature of these games like few others, and how to leverage it towards success.

“I held great store by team talks because those are the last words that players are going to hear before he's going out the door,” he said. “I mean, I had a great mentor in that sense, Brian Clough. His thing would be short and sweet, you know, but you were listening to the message. I always felt that was important.”

That won't change this weekend: “I might choose a different method of delivering it, but I think the essence will still be there.”

Celtic fans crave this authenticity in an era when they mistrust their institution. That is the crux of why the club turned to him now. In times of chaos, familiarity carries weight.

And while there's a joke or one-liner at every turn this week, his facade of joviality doesn't hide that he's as desperate to win as ever.

O'Neill knows how to speak to this fanbase, how to read this fixture, and how to restore some measure of belief, even if he's not calling it a comeback.

“I don't think this is a renaissance, I just think this is a fill-in.”

Even so, the question is: can the old ways - energy, unity, emotion, simplicity - still win you important football matches?

As O'Neill concluded, "We'll see on Sunday."

 

MARTIN O’NEILL has insisted he won’t be talked into taking the Celtic job for keeps.

Victory over Rangers in Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final would have many fans calling for the 73-year-old to be handed the reins permanently.

Ipswich gaffer Kieran McKenna is favourite to land the job, and O’Neill said: “I don’t think this is a renaissance. I believe this is just a fill-in.

“The only people who would be saying that are my two daughters.

“I spoke to Mr Desmond the other night, but my remit was they would be looking for somebody pretty quickly.”

Celtic put back-to-back Premiership losses behind them to beat Falkirk 4-0 on Wednesday night in O’Neill’s first game back at the helm.

The Northern Irishman insists he is looking no further forward than facing Gers tomorrow.

He added: “First of all, you have to try and win a game of football.

“You have to win the game and you’re right back to square one again if you don’t.

“It’s a massive match for both clubs.”

O’Neill admits he has missed management after being without a job since a 19-game spell in charge of former club Nottingham Forest in 2019.

He added: “I don’t think I’ve ever lost the bug. I really missed the game. Sometimes in seasons gone by I’d think I could do equally as badly as some of the other boys were doing.

“I’ll miss the game when they are putting the lid on me, which might not be that long.

“I don’t think there’s any room in the game today for somebody with experience. I don’t think they bother with that.

“Strangely enough, you could have all the experience in the world and still be c***.

“But I was 48 when I first came up here, and I wonder what I’d have thought of somebody 70-plus coming in. I’d probably have the same view as people now.

“I got 19 games at Forest under Mr Marinakis. If you ask Ange Postecoglou, that’s a lifetime. We won the last three games too.

“I didn’t feel great about that but now I don’t feel so bad. I must speak to Ange to see how his eight games went.

“It was at a club where I’d spent ten years as a player with a fair amount of success, but you’re forgotten very quickly.

“I didn’t feel great about it and stupidly I hid away. I’ve never had an agent my whole time.

“You’re always trying to prove a point. It was the same as a player. I’ve referenced Brian Clough before, but I always feel I was trying to prove him more wrong than right.

“That’s why I probably felt jealous of John Robertson. He used to get the sign of approval, I used to get the fingers!”

Daizen Maeda is in the mix to start tomorrow’s clash after a second-half appearance off the bench against the Bairns.

O’Neill refused to rule out a return for Kelechi Iheanacho and Kieran Tierney, but Marcelo Saracchi is definitely available despite missing training on Friday.

 

Amazing

 

I’ll raise you this

 

A loss to the filth, or a poor result in Denmark next week, puts a different complexion on it altogether. There’s a kind of ‘feelgood factor’ around currently but that’s after only one game, and against poor opposition. I think it’s imperative that we identity the ideal candidate and get him in ASAP. Lose a couple of games and we won’t be long seeing the goodwill for MON (and by default, Moloney) run out sharpish.

 

Mon the MON!