IT WAS deja vu all over again at Parkhead yesterday as Martin O’Neill staged his second comeback of Celtic inside three dramatic months.
The 73-year-old Irishman answered the first SOS in late October following the rapid exit of Brendan Rodgers.
O’Neill took over in an interim capacity as the champions searched for a long-term manager. That hunt ended when Wilfried Nancy arrived on a two-and-a-half year deal from MLS outfit Columbus Crew on December 3.
That was the evening the charismatic stand-in gaffer took what we all thought was a final bow with a seventh win in eight games following a 1-0 success over Dundee under the lights in the east end of Glasgow.
JOY BHOYS…Sebastian Tounekti congratulates Benjamin Nygren after the Swede makes it 3-0 for Celtic against Dundee United. Image courtesy Celtic TV.
No-one could have forecast what was about to happen next as the Frenchman kicked off his Hoops career with four consecutive losses. There was a two-game winning interruption against 10-man Aberdeen and rock-bottom Livingston before another two reverses.
Remarkably, Nancy was sacked after just 33 wretched days in charge of the team and once again O’Neill, who originally spent five years at the club after quitting Leicester City in the summer of 2000, was back in the hot seat until at least the end of the season.
Coincidentally, the veteran team coach kicked off his second spell in this campaign with a 4-0 win over Dundee United at Parkhead – the same scoreline and venue as his first match against Falkirk on the evening of October 29.
On this occasion, Yang Hyun-jun, Arne Engels, Benjamin Nygren and Daizen Maeda were on target.
The second homecoming of O’Neill in this crusade is certainly worth a second look – courtesy of those good folk at Celtic TV Unique Angle.
Please enjoy!
FOUR HE’S A JOLLY GOOD FELLOW- WELCOME BACK, MARTIN!
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