An interesting anecdote from Matt McGlone (ex-Celtic View columnist) on Martin O’Neill highlighted his level of involvement at all levels. After a critical article by McGlone on the first team after losing 5-1 to Rangers, Martin O’Neill stormed in to see Matt McGlone and castigate him over the article. According to McGlone, Martin O’Neill was comprehensive in his role at Celtic and had a view and look at everything going on, and ensured that all was well set-up as he required for his players benefit. An important point that highlights just how thorough Martin O’Neill was, and it played a part to transform the team and club environment to get the foundations laid for future success. A tough group awaited Celtic with Juventus in pot one, and for Martin O’Neill it was quite a step up in a short space of time for management at Celtic. A double European Cup winner with Notts Forest, Martin O’Neill knew what it takes to compete in the tournament but times had changed and Celtic were entering with some trepidation. His last season was the most difficult, and in many ways should not be seen in any way as being representative of his reign. When Martin O’Neill arrived at Celtic, there wasn’t a relatively huge crowd to greet him, nor was there the usual overblown fanfare you would normally get with any new incumbent at the helm of a club of Celtic’s size. There was a fairly large crowd of people welcoming him, but truth be told expectations were conservative.

He was clear about what he wanted. He took the players he needed from the previous era – the ones with character, fire and quality – and built his own team. He brought in Alan Thompson, Chris Sutton, Neil Lennon, Bobo Balde, Joos Valgaeren – huge players for us. Martin knew how to build a team of warriors. We didn’t fear anyone; we played Barcelona, Lyon and Liverpool, and we weren’t scared. Teams feared us when they came to Celtic Park. We had such togetherness and we had winners, and we were hungry for success.” He later wrote his own well-received autobiography, and in 2023 he was given the honour to bring the Scottish League trophy onto the pitch to be presented to Celtic manager Ange Postecoglu on the presentation day at the end of the season.

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December – Angrily dismisses reports he is on the verge of quitting Leicester for a bigger club. Rules himself out of Everton job. Martin did have one thing going for him when he arrived up there in Glasgow – he didn’t need to work too hard to get fans to come to the ground. All he had to do was tell them it was a Saturday! What a luxury, massive home crowds virtually guaranteed.’ O’Neill also helped to give some good young players their first steps. Kennedy and Marshall outstanding at the Nou Camp, Liam Miller’s (ultimately brief) purple patch, before he got snatched by old purple nose, McManus and McGeady both made debuts, while the likes of Jamie Smith, Ross Wallace and Craig Beattie all looked like they had something to offer. However, over time, excluding McGeady none of them have hit the major heights, but they mostly all had good solid careers at a decent level.

Martin O’Neill’s inspired team completed an exceptional Treble that season (league, Scottish cup & league cup), something that even the most optimistic Celtic fan at the start of the season could not believe would happen. So how was Martin O’Neill to begin to turnaround the whole club? Some thought that it was equivalent to turning the Titanic around in light of Rangers’ then hegemony. His first task was to rebuild the squad, and after losing Mark Viduka (the highest profile loss) he brought in players such as Sutton, Thompson and Agathe, and later Lennon (in Dec 2000) to change both the dynamic and atmosphere surrounding the whole squad. Add in the recovery of Henrik Larsson, after his horrendous injury the previous year, and he had the nucleus of a great team, a blessing for any manager.

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Condition: Very Good. Ships from the UK. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects. Celtic is a way of life. Possibly more than anywhere else, it meant everything to the supporters. The club affected their lives in ways perhaps maybe other clubs didn’t do.” Martin O’Neill has reduced the number of nutters at Celtic because he has given them less to be nuts about. ” Wycombe win GM Vauxhall Conference title to achieve promotion to the Football League and clinch another FA Trophy success.

One of my jobs at the start – and you can write this as a headline – was trying to find out why exactly we had spent some of our money on Rafael Sheidt.” For a complicated man, he played a very simple game. He was as good at tactics as anybody but that’s not how he is considered. He is considered a motivator, a shouter or a charmer. He knew the game inside out. He told us things tactically during games that stood the test of time. He would say something to you on a Monday, contradict himself on a Friday and you would believe both.” The highlight of the season for many though was surprisingly not the Barca win, the league victory or the Scottish cup final double. The best moment was the whitewash of five wins out of five against Rangers. The finale of this came from Martin O’Neill’s best signing, Chris Sutton, who in injury time scored a long range goal to win us the final game of the season against Rangers. The torment for the Rangers fans was unmeasurable, and the joy for all Celtic fans was sky-high. Martin O’Neill simply had the upper hand in all the encounters, and his charges did all the good work for him. Your work is nostalgic in style and very ‘hands on’ in the creating process, do you think there is a resurgence in this type of work given the predominant digital age we are in? Graham Rawle is a writer, artist, and designer. He has produced regular series which include ‘Lying Doggo’ and ‘Graham Rawle’s Wonder Quiz’ for The Observer and ‘When Words Collide’ and ‘Pardon Mrs. Arden’ for The Sunday Telegraph Magazine and ‘Bright Ideas’ for The Times. He is a Visiting Professor in Illustration at the Norwich University of the Arts where in 2012 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate for services to design. He lives in London.It was more than anyone has ever asked of Martin O’Neill and showed that he was more than a manager, and took the well-being of his players as a priority above all. He cared, and in return the Celtic support cared for him too. See Link. Do you know what, that has never occurred to me,” O’Neill replied. “It’s such a great idea I am going to start that next week. The only problem is I’ve been so busy winning matches I haven’t had time to do it!” O’Neill was making the point that managers are judged by the matches they win and not necessarily for the team’s style. He is a clever man but even he could not have anticipated the success achieved during his short time in charge. ” Martin O’Neill was born in London. The Graphic illustrator Artist creates collages for a wide range of International clients through publishing, advertising, design, and installation work. O’Neill’s memories of a “mesmeric” Clough remain vivid, from the moment of their initial meeting in the winter of 1975. Clough instantly promoted O’Neill to the first team but was not of a mind to fawn. “Hey, you: Stop putting your mate in the shit. You look like a boy who would put your mate in the shit,” was the message in an early training session.