Martin O’Neill is generally fair and balanced whenever it comes to talking about Celtic and Rangers despite his obvious leanings to the Parkhead club.
Known for his cutting but straight to the point opinions, Celtic fans enjoy O’Neill’s punditry just as much as they did his pre-match press conference when he was in the Celtic Park dugout.
The Hoops icon has been fairly open on his feelings about the gap between Celtic and Rangers over the last few months.
And after Rangers hired Russell Martin, the iconic former Hoops boss was asked if the new Ibrox man can really close the gap to Celtic.
Martin O’Neill thinks it’s ‘possible’ Rangers can catch Celtic next season
Anything is possible in football, right? With Celtic winning the league with a 17-point margin last season, what makes Martin O’Neill think that Russell Martin has what it takes to not just close the gap, but overtake the Parkhead club?
O’Neill told talkSPORT [11m], “Oh, it’s possible, yes. I mean, I think that he has a couple of advantages in many aspects. Number one, he actually played for the team, so he’s got a fair idea from when he played.
“I think he came up on loan a way back some years ago, and played half a season anyway. So that will give him some idea about what the football club is all about. And secondly, he’s going in to his new season, in which the previous one, was totally underwhelming.
“Certainly domestically speaking, they actually had a good run in Europe. But overall, yes, he’s got this opportunity to stamp his own authority on it.
“However, he has got a reputation of wanting to do things his own way, being stubborn in many aspects.
“But I think that managers can learn. I think this is the whole idea, that if you think that something is not actually working, don’t be frightened to change things around, because eventually your job will be on the line. And this is it.
“This is the most important thing. But for Russell, he’s got this opportunity to drive a big, big football club along.”
When Martin O’Neill sent Rangers boss Russell Martin a Celtic warning
Whilst O’Neill is being diplomatic and factually correct with his verdict, it is possible that Rangers could catch Celtic next season.
However, just over a week ago, the former Celtic manager warned the Rangers boss Brendan Rodgers will not be keen to give up his position as Scotland’s top dog.
O’Neill said, “Celtic won the league very comfortably last season and they deserve credit.
“Winning a title is never easy and shouldn’t be taken for granted. It’s 10 months of hard work and you need to produce a level of consistency over that period.
“Brendan and the squad will be motivated to do it again and they are looking to achieve five-in-a-row.
“Across the city, at Rangers, they will be trying to stop that from happening. It will be interesting to see how Russell Martin goes about that.”
With Brendan Rodgers getting his Celtic transfer targets lined up, it appears the Hoops boss is preparing for whatever Rangers and the 49ers are preparing to throw at winning the title.
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