O’NEILL HAS RETURNED TO PARKHEAD ON AN INTERIM BASIS FOLLOWING BRENDAN RODGERS’ RESIGNATION WHILE THE CLUB GO IN SEARCH OF A LONG-TERM REPLACEMENT.
THE NORTHERN IRISHMAN HAS ALWAYS STRESSED THAT THIS WOULD BE A SHORT-TERM ROLE, BUT WHY DID HE COME BACK IN THE FIRST PLACE? MARTIN O’NEILL OPENS UP ON HIS DECISION TO RETURN TO CELTIC.
HAVING BEEN OUT OF THE MANAGEMENT GAME SINCE 2019, O’NEILL HAS SPENT HIS TIME IN VARIOUS OTHER ROLES INCLUDING PUNDITRY AND WORKING FOR THE LEAGUE MANAGERS’ ASSOCIATION. BEING BACK IN THE DUGOUT WAS THE LAST THING ON HIS MIND, BUT HE ADMITTED THE CALL FROM DERMOT DESMOND CHANGED EVERYTHING.
SPEAKING TO THE DAILY MAIL, HE SAID: “MY LIFE WAS HIGHLY ENJOYABLE: PUNDITRY WORK, MY NEW BOOK, SOME THEATRE CONVERSATIONS, AND ALSO BEING CHAIRMAN OF THE LEAGUE MANAGERS ASSOCIATION. THE LAST IS A ROLE I DON’T TREAT LIGHTLY, I’VE THROWN MYSELF INTO IT. SO I ACTUALLY FELT THAT I WAS QUITE BUSY. BUT AFTER MY CHAT WITH DERMOT, THERE WAS JUST THIS PULL ABOUT CELTIC. HOW DO YOU RESIST IT? I HAD GREAT, GREAT TIMES AT THE CLUB, THOUGH THAT WAS A LONG TIME AGO.
“I KEEP SAYING IT: IT’S A QUARTER OF A CENTURY AGO NOW SINCE I WAS FIRST APPOINTED CELTIC MANAGER. DESPOTS AND DICTATORS HAVE COME AND GONE IN THAT TIME. BUT HERE I AM BACK.”
DERMOT DESMOND’S LOVE FOR MARTIN O’NEILL
DESMOND AND O’NEILL HAVE ALWAYS HAD A STRONG RELATIONSHIP WITH EACH OTHER.
IN HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY, O’NEILL RECALLED HIS FIRST CONVERSATION WITH DESMOND AND HOW THE CELTIC OWNER WAS “STRIKINGLY IMPRESSIVE.”
EVEN THOUGH THE TWO DIDN’T SPEAK EVERY DAY IN THE 20 YEARS THAT O’NEILL HAS BEEN AWAY, THE NORTHERN IRISHMAN IS STILL THE BEST CELTIC MANAGER SINCE JOCK STEIN IN DESMOND’S EYES.
THE 73-YEAR-OLD HAS CONTINUOUSLY SAID HE WON’T STAY FOR THE LONG HAUL, BUT WILL DESMOND TRY AND CHANGE HIS MIND?
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