MARTIN O’NEILL has been in charge of Celtic 24 times during his two interim periods during a turbulent campaign.
Brendan Rodgers lasted only 16 games before departing rapidly and, of course, the woeful Wilfried Nancy managed a mere eight outings before being jettisoned.
O’Neill has led the Hoops to 17 wins, three draws and three losses as well as the dramatic penalty-kick shoot-out triumph over Danny Rohl’s side on Sunday that sealed a Scottish Cup semi-final place against St Mirren at Hampden next month.
FAREWELL…a glum Brendan Rodgers after his final Celtic game, a 3-1 loss to Hearts.
Rodgers won seven, drew two and lost two of his 11 domestic matches, had two goalless draws against Kairat Almaty, of Khazakhstan, before exiting the Champions League on penalty-kicks and won one, drew one and lost of of his three Europa League outings.
Nancy racked up the worst record of any manager in the club’s history with six defeats and only two wins during his disastrous 33 days in control.
In comparison, 74-year-old O’Neill is clearly a safe pair of hands on the tiller as he steers the club towards the climax of a truly remarkable crusade.
The genial Irishman admits it has been tougher second time around as he had to revive the players whose confidence had been shot to pieces following the catastrophic appointment of the Frenchman.
Dermot Desmond, the champions’ principal shareholder, made the initial call to O’Neill to take over the reins after Rodgers’ unexpected resignation in late October.
FAREWELL…Wilfried Nancy, sacked after six losses in eight games.
The veteran gaffer said: “You knew that when you went in there first of all, you were in for a short period of time.
“You could be there for two weeks or two months.
“As it turned out, it was like, what, 36 or no more than 40 days. And you knew that was coming to an end at some stage or another.”
After the Hoops’ second-half collapse to lose 3-1 in the derby encounter at Parkhead on January 3, Nancy was fired and once again O’Neill answered a second SOS from Desmond, this time to take over until the end of the season.
The charismatic team chief, speaking to talkSPORT, admitted telling the club supremo: “I might not last that length of time in terms of results.”
Desmond replied: “I know.”
HELLO AGAIN…Martin O’Neill in charge of Celtic for a second time this season.
As he had done on the first occasion, O’Neill hit the ground running with a 4-0 home win over Dundee United a week after the unacceptable defeat to Danny Rohl’s team.
The sequence this time out is littered with vital late goals such as Livingston (2-1), Kilmarnock (3-2) and Rangers (2-2) plus the equaliser three seconds from regulation time against Dundee before winning the Scottish Cup-tie in extra-time.
Asked about the slow starts, O’Neill answered one critic: “You said the team’s been dreadful for the first-half.
“That’s because they’ve had a dreadful first team talk. As simple as that.
“And I could only improve at half-time because it’s been so dreadful in the first instance.
“So, there we go.”
The Celtic fans will not be complaining about a late winner when they take on Motherwell at Parkhead on Saturday, that’s for sure.
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