Sometimes I look at the trajectory of Martin O’Neill’s career and wonder why he didn’t land another top job after leaving Celtic. He was the hottest property in football while he was in Glasgow, almost joined Leeds United (then a top side), while he was short odds for the Liverpool manager’s job at each annual crisis on Merseyside. At the time Ferguson at Manchester was talking about retiring, had he gone, Martin would have moved to Old Trafford.
In 2003 he met Mourinho in the Uefa Cup final. The Portuguese had some of the finest footballers of that generation at his disposal, unquestionably a better collection of players than Celtic, as their Champions League win 12 months later would prove, but Porto were pinned-in for long spells in the second half and required (literally) every trick in the book to prevail.
Despite losing, O’Neill did better with the resources available to him than Mourinho.
After a few meritocratic years at Aston Villa, where he spent more than the club could afford, but delivered a better team than they would otherwise expect, he left a day before the season kicked off, apparently unhappy Villa’s budget was being curtailed.
Without meaning offence to Sunderland, I was disappointed when he pitched up there. Martin O’Neill was surely a manager who should be competing for league titles and in the Champions League. His early form at Sunderland was transformational but it was a transformation built on fragile foundations.
Those founds’ have now disappeared, Sunderland sit two places above relegation. Their play is recognisable from how Celtic played a decade ago, and how Leicester played in the 90s. Opponents know what they get from Martin’s teams, so they know how to prepare for them.
Martin’s former players talk about his inspirational qualities not his tactical incision. It’s hard, if not impossible, for a manager of a major club to master all the attributes required in the job. The successful ones realise this and delegate.
One of the frustrations we had with Martin when he was at Celtic is his reluctance to indulge the scouts. We signed former Leicester players, players who featured on Match of the Day, or players from other SPL clubs. The Wanyama, Izaguirre, Kayal-recruitment model, players signed with greater trust in the scouts and limited supervision from the man at the top, would never have happened under O’Neill.
The technical side of the game is perhaps even more important than recruitment. Great football systems, clubs and countries develop from one coach doing something sensational. Successful tactical changes are then studied and copied, but how do you study and learn from a system that’s not utilised against you, or on TV, when you are manager of a large club? You can’t, on your own.
Instead you have to deploy the systems you already trust and used to get yourself the big job in the first place. Or you can tinker a little, or use what, for the want of a better term, we’ll call a technical research team. People who can say to the manager, “A club in Romania is doing something really clever, we should try it”, without being frog-marched off the premises.
The lesson of evolution is that it is not the biggest, strongest or healthiest who thrive, it’s those who can adapt to a changing environment. The list of great managers who end their career in humiliating relegation is longer than the list of greats who regularly discard their tried and tested formations and become early-adopters of successful new systems.
‘By any means necessary, Journey with Celtic Bampots’ by Paul Larkin, is now available at Lulu and other outlets. Paul charts the remarkable events the Internet Bampots became embroiled in since 2008.
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What a lot of paranoid, fabricated nonsense on here tonight.
Are some of you guys seriously suggesting that Levein got the Scotland job just to help Rangers win a title ?
Next one of you will be suggesting that the Rangers were multi-million pound tax cheats and welched on their responsibilities to Her Majesty.
Get serious guys.
leftclicktic
Didn`t hold back did he, the sfa just make a mockery of the game
in scotland. They should be declared unfit for purpose.
All this Levein conspiracy theory is far fetched, when he got the job the dissenters were few.
The fact that he replicated his failure down south is down to him being not as good as he thought he was or whoever talked him up in the hallowed halls of Hampden. I always thought he was a good player and a defensive coach, no more than that. I see the MSM were damning him by his own words, they say that he failed when he claimed to have the best Scottish squad for years and then did not deliver.
What was he supposed to say at the start of a campaign ? ” `ken boys , this mob are no exactly Brazil, hauf o` them are barely Scottish and the other hauf can barely run in a straight line. We huvny a chance in this group,nae chance at all, the best we can get is thurd and tat will be a miracle, aye but fur f***s sake keep yer mooth shut that we`re rank”
No doubt they would have praised him for his honesty , aye right.
I’ll be back in the dear green place tomorrow : that’s what matters to me. That and being at Celtic Park on Wednesday night.
Joy. Sheer.
Clearly Scotland doesn’t have the same pool of talent as Spain but I do believe we have decent enough players who could be managed to beat many teams. Craig Brown managed it..
MWD
Cheers Mate!
That will save the house resembling the scene of a burglary!
Hail Hail
BTW Do you know when the royalties will start to roll in for our CQN Mag quotations?
Billy Bhoy
Gary McAlister and a big lump o’ wid………….
…..or Gary and twa’ big lumps o’ wid?
How much of a difference is there between the much critisised football Gordon Strachan’s teams played v the two defensive midfeilders at home Neil Lennon teams?
The teams without motivation sent out to just get points?
Neil Lennon is an ultra caucious Gordon Strachan, but ‘given time’
Paul67 et al
While it is difficult to make a case for keeping Craig Levein in situ, there is no great advantage to be gained by sacking him, or even placing him on gardeners leave at the start of winter. Time to clear out the stables. Brazil is gone, but with 24 teams qualifying for the Euros in France in 2016 that should allow a longer term focus. Any clamour to re-appoint previous failures like McLeish and Smith should be avoided at all cost, but will be championed by the craven Scottish media. Let us take this opportunity to change, not just the manager but the whole set-up. If we need a board to decide things, then at least have some football men on it, even on a part-time basis, Jordan, Dalglish, McCallister, Stark, Strachan, Keane, maybe even some imput from Ferguson and someone who knows a bit about Scottish football, Neil Lennon. Cannot do worse than the Ogilvies and the Smiths of this world. Build on the progress made at younger levels, take adavantage of playing the likes of Croatia and Belgium and attempt to influence who does or does not win the group. Oh, and bring on Luxembourg!
Craig Levein was probably the best young manager around in Scotland at the time.
I must admit I quite admired him at the time (circa 2007-09).
His team were playing well, challenging in the SPL.
He was outspoken and defiant toward the “powers”.
He was taken out by the SFA possibly because he was a danger to Ssssch you know who, and rushed into the Scotland job at the wrong time, certainly far too early.
Craig Levein today is a shadow of the man he was pe-Scotland.
I just hopes he still has the appetite to get back to what he was doing so well.
…….my mole in Pittenweem tells me the ‘smert’ money is goin’ on Granpaw Broon an’ Braveheart………
Next Scotland manager ?
Here’s how to do it.
Simon Cowell,Louis Walsh and Cheryl cole on the panel
A 6 week run on Saturday night on STV
Yes folks CelEBriTS administrator Factor
Contestants perform simple tasks like ,oh making a decision within 24hrs,or pulling balls out of a hat (anyone who can get SEVCO an away draw is through to the next round) ,or making some simple rules,understanding them and then implementing them and we can’t leave out the Blazers and brogues parade round the pool !
All decided by public vote
And the prize for the three lucky winners…………..
They get to choose the next Manager
;-))
Bankiebhoy
Braveheart needs a job he’s burst
leftclicktic
Aye, that’s the reason he got the job.
Zbyszek
Don’t know if this is a double post – email sent.
H!H!
…………..PF, there is certain pro-hun benevolence in these things………..
………….jobs for the-good-ole-boys…………….
First bid for Wristband and Celtic v Barca ticket £75
Many thanks
HH
CRC
ps All for Wee Oscar
Sixtaeseven
Levein looked unwell in his last few games in charge
Best for all ,including himself that he leaves now …
He’s probably feeling better already
Good luck to him …he’s not a bad guy
Sixtaeseven @ 20:58,
Totally concur.
Celtic mac,
I agree. No great advantages to sacking him now. It’s not like club football where a new gaffer would bring in new players in January and ship out the dead wood.
Sure being bottom of group is sore but the new manager is on a hiding to nothing.
That said, hes gone. Move on. Bring on the next guy.
jmccormick, 20:49 on
“All this Levein conspiracy theory is far fetched…”
Anyone who has followed Scottish football for more than a year would never think that anything was far fetched!
;o)
Incredibly, the best is yet to come.
Thon Ray Winston fair knows his stuff;)
sixtaeseven: £94M: Permanent Embarrassment & Disgrace Forever
I `ve been around for a good few years and agree about the disfunctional habits we see down Hampden way, but I suspect there is no smoking gun here.
Stuart Cosgrove is obviously a reader of the blogs. He frequently quotes from the TSFM and RTC. Any intelligent football commentator would. ON Saturday he was discussing the Chief Exec job at The SFA and said he would apply for it if it became available. Why not was his comment. Gordon Smith got it before…
As a proud Scot who has never failed to talk Scotland up in the 27 years that I have no longer lived there I could not give a tuppeny suck about anything ti do with the national football tean.
It delights me that they are so pash at everything.
Delighted they are all failing …their employees.
And delighted that anyone daft enough to pay for a ticket to watch them is left disappointed.
I hope they finish bottom of the group.
HH
Praecepta
My reply is sent. Thank you very much for your offer and help. You are a gentleman and good friend.
jmccormick
You could be right, but like so many things, we’ll never know: the SFA “omerta” will see to that.
Thankfully, the winds of change are blowing through the fusty corridors of Hampden.
With any luck, any future decisions will need to be sanctioned by the “bampots”.
;o)
Could Scoddland not get the Stirling Albion manager to do the job by texting?
MWD
sorry to hear about the auction,Was it not possible to contact underbidder and offer ticket to them
Just a thought
After the Rangers debacle Craig was taken into the fold. He could not be dismissed as a paranoid as he was/is one of the brethren.
The late chairman of Dundee United did himself no favours when he widened Craig Levien’s accusations of referee’s bias in favour of Rangers to “Old Firm”.
This oft-repeated mantra would only find favour with those who have not got the brains to think for themselves.
Referees who have been seen to favour Celtic are so numerous that their names can be set out on the back of a first class postage stamp.
Dear sfa & msm
Please can we have some armegeddon re the vacant football manager position.
Yours
Internet bampots
Flying visit, thanks to Doc, MurdochAuldHay, AngelGabriel and my goodself who are now proud owners of Nags.
Until we meet again.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
Zbyszek 21:34 on 5 November, 2012
Got your emails – no worries you are more than welcome.
Keep in touch and we will get something worked out for the next time.
H!H!
Paul67, re your article. So your saying Peter Lawwell is doing a great job signing all those players?
zbyszek
I read a tweet earlier that Celtic are watchingba young guy playing in Poland, a striker who is doing very well. You know anything about the speculation? Sorry I forget guys name. I’ll check.
SffS
My Supporters bus is going to the Brazen Head before Wednesday nights game any CQN’rs frequent this fine establishment? due to arrive about 1530
Geordie Monroe
Tough job for anyone without a connection, or even an EBT, to or from Ayebroke. At least they cannot promote Ali! He is too young for the job!
Malorbhoy
21:53 on 5 November, 2012
Madhoose, but it’s a Celtic madhoose. Don’t move away from the bar.