MARTIN O’NEILL has emphasised over his two interim spells as Celtic manager in a tumultuous season what we’ve known for more than a quarter of a century.
The 74-year-old Irishman is not slow to deliver an answer when he is pressed.
In the aftermath of a truly stupendous title success, his fourth at the club, O’Neill was quizzed about the possibility of remaining in position for the new season.
Quick as a flash and succinct as ever, he answered: “If the season was to start tomorrow morning, I wouldn’t do it! I couldn’t stand it.
“Naturally, I’d hope they asked what I thought. But, seriously, if we didn’t have a Cup to worry about this week and they asked me now, I wouldn’t be up for it.
WE’RE BEHIND YOU…Martin O’Neill, with the backing of the Celtic fans, patrols the Parkhead touchline.
“The game is incredibly tactical now, whether it’s man-marking, the angles, inverted full-backs and so on, which I’ve had to learn, because it wasn’t in my time.
“I’ve had to go with it at times. The coaches won’t mind me saying, I don’t necessarily agree with it, but I’ve had to acquiesce big time, big time, more than I wanted to!”
O’Neill opened up on what his latest managerial stint in the east end of Glasgow has been like and. speaking to The Scotsman, continued: “I’ve stayed in the hotel for the whole time.
“I went home a couple of times, but only if there wasn’t a midweek game or anything. There hasn’t been much chance, to be honest.
“They were getting me a little flat down the way, but my wife couldn’t come up because she’s doing some classes and it would have been too much to change. And the hotel worked out cheaper because I got a better rate!
“It’s been great, though. Fantastic. I’m delighted with how it turned out because I would have been really disappointed if we hadn’t won it.”
O’Neill added: “The first spell was different. It was always going to be a small period, as Dermot Desmond said it could be two weeks or two months. It felt like it was a specialised little time.
AGONY AND ECSTASY…Martin O’Neill holds his head in anguish after Kelechi Iheanacho’s shot rebounds from the Hearts post in the 79th minute with the score levelled at 1-1, but it’s all smiles (below) as the Irishman holds aloft the Premiership trophy after the 3-1 success.
“Coming back in January was a completely different issue. I had a bit of a gulp, you think, ‘I don’t know about this, really’.
“If they’d chosen someone else that would have been fine.
“But I’m delighted they stayed with it.”
O’Neill now has the opportunity of a grandstand finale when he takes the champions to Hampden for the Scottish Cup showpiece on Saturday.
Standing in his way of a league and Cup double is his former Celtic captain Neil Lennon who has negotiated a path to the silverware shoot-out with Championship side Dunfermline.
One thing is certain – it’s going to be an intriguing showdown at the national stadium.
Let battle commence!
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