MARTIN O’NEILL went over 20 years without experieincing the highs and lows of a Glasgow derby before he took charge of Celtic in the Premier Sports League Cup semi-final at Hampden on November 2 last year.
Now the Irishman is preparing his Celtic team for his FIFTH encounter against the club’s city rivals in 10 months.
O’Neill will take his players across the city for today’s noon kick-off against Derek McInnes’ side in the quarter-final of the same competition.
The veteran team chief had won 16 of his previous 27 meetings with the Govan club after kicking off the sequence with unforgettable 6-2 rout over Dick Advocaat’s shell-shocked outfit at Parkhead on August 27 2000, a landslide victory now known as The Demolition Derby.
THE START OF SOMETHING GOOD…Johnny Kenny watches his header zoom past Jack Butland for Celtic’s opening goal in the 3-1 extra-time win in the Premier Sports League Cup semi-final at Hampden in November last year.
After taking charge following Brendan Rodgers’ abrupt exit in late October, O’Neill once again launched his interim career in the Hoops dug-out with a derby win.
On this occasion, it took goals from Jonny Kenny, Callum McGregor and Callum Osmand to give the-then trophy holders a 3-1 extra-time triumph over Danny Rohl’s side at Hampden.
O’Neill then made way for Wilfried Nancy, but made a quickfire return after the Frenchman was fired following six defeats in eight games.
The caretaker gaffer then faced two back-to-back weekend trips to Ibrox on Premiership and Scottish Cup business in March.
Celtic came back from trailing 2-0 at the interval to gain a point in a dramatic 2-2 draw in the league with strikes from Kieran Tierney and Reo Hatate.
Seven days later, the clubs faced a penalty-kick shoot-out following a scoreless stalemate after 120 minutes.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Auston Trusty, Hatate and Tomas Cvancara all made impeccable jobs from 12 yards while the home club missed two.
THREE AND EASY…Daizen Maeda sits it out after his spectacular overhead-kick had sailed into the net for the final goal in Celtic’s 3-1 derby triumph at Parkhead in May.
O’Neill’s men then beat St Mirren 6-2 after extra-time in the semi-final on their way to a 3-1 success in the Scottish Cup showcase against Neil Lennon’s Dunfermline on Saturday May 23.
That win came a week after the champions had sealed their fifth successive title with a 3-1 victory over Hearts at Parkhead.
Six days before that celebration, O’Neill had watched Celtic go a goal down to a Mikey Moore effort in the derby in the east end of Glasgow before roaring back to emerge victorious with an equaliser from Yang Hyun-jun before a superb double from Daizen Maeda.
Here we go again for O’Neill’s fifth derby since his dramatic comeback.
And the 74-year-old gaffer gets a quick breather before he gets to do it all over again in the Premiership encounter at Parkhead a week today.
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