Few people saw Martin O’Neill’s Celtic return coming.
Brendan Rodgers’ sudden departure was enough of a surprise, but the return of a club legend in O’Neill was equally as much of a surprise.
Dermot Desmond’s scathing attack on Rodgers made it clear that his patience with the 52-year-old had reached a breaking point.
This will partially be because this isn’t the first time he’s had to replace him mid-season. In 2019, Neil Lennon’s interim return was just as much of a surprise.
He ended up taking charge of over 100 games in his second spell which went through until 2021. And when asked about O’Neill, he joked that he’d take doing it again.
Neil Lennon’s joke about taking the Celtic job again
Since leaving Celtic in the midst of the disastrous Covid season, Lennon has worked in three other managerial roles.
He won the Cypriot Cup and came close to stunning Manchester United whilst at Omonia Nicosia, before his spell at Rapid Bucharest was cut short by unforeseen circumstances.
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He is now in the Scottish Championship, where he caused a big surprise by taking the job at ambitious Dunfermline Athletic earlier this year.
And on Tuesday, he was working on the live broadcast of Liverpool’s Champions League tie against Real Madrid for Premier Sports in Ireland.
O’Neill was in the same position a few weeks ago – of course, he was literally a guest on TalkSPORT the day he was offered the job at Celtic Park.
And told about O’Neill going back to Glasgow for a quieter life after working on their broadcast of the last matchday, Lennon joked: “I might take that!”
He went on to say about O’Neill’s return and win at the weekend: “It was a great win, and it just lifts the place.
“They played pretty well on the day, it was a good semi-final. Normally they’re quite tense, but this one was more open.
“And he’s two for two, so he’s got off to a great start. He realised what he missed when he was working [for Premier Sports], and the pain he went through here!
“And he needs to get a tracksuit to fit him as well, it’s three sizes too big for him.”
Martin O’Neill and Neil Lennon’s interim spells
When he replaced Rodgers in 2019, Lennon inherited a Celtic team which was on an unbeaten run domestically and in the midst of an incredible run of trophies.
He guided the side to complete a treble treble, infamously being offered the permanent role (apparently in the shower area) after the Scottish Cup Final against Hearts, in a fairly big shock at the time.
O’Neill has a final coming up in a month’s time – could we see something similar should he lead the team to victory against St Mirren?
Knowing Celtic, you absolutely wouldn’t rule it out. As for Lennon’s chances of a third spell, they feel next to zero at the minute.
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