Martin O’Neill’s Celtic return hit its first brick wall on Thursday.
Celtic were well beaten by FC Midtjylland in the Europa League, but that shouldn’t hide away from the excitement the club’s legendary coach has brought to the table.
It was doom and gloom at Celtic before Brendan Rodgers’ exit, and O’Neill has lifted spirits, as well as getting a lot of people talking.
Even someone like Paul Scholes, who has no past Celtic connections, was delighted to see O’Neill back in the dugout, as was former striker Ian Wright.
Paul Scholes and Ian Wright on Martin O’Neill’s return to Celtic
Everyone loves O’Neill, and even at the age of 73, he is going strong, and as Wright and Scholes put it, showing ‘unbelievable energy.’
While Celtic’s defeat to Midtjylland was a hammer blow, the duo’s comments on the Irishman came before the Denmark trip.
And of course, being a former Celtic man, Wright had to bring up the win over Rangers at Hampden in the League Cup semi-final, as he told the Overlap.
Wright with a beaming smile: “They did it (beating Rangers). They done it. They beat them. He’s amazing, isn’t he?! It was good, though. You see his face? So good. (He has) energy. He is magnificent. He is brilliant to be around.”
Scholes: “He was complaining about the tracksuit, wasn’t he? Did you see that? Why are these so tight, these tracksuits? (He has) unbelievable energy.”
O’Neill’s Celtic legacy
Before O’Neill walked back through the Parkhead doors, there were already burning issues and problems that needed dealing with.
O’Neill could easily be dragged into that, even if he has little fault in it, and some are concerned that it might harm his legacy.
That’s proven by former Celtic striker Chris Sutton expressing his worry at that legacy being harmed, but Alan Brazil shutting all of that talk down.
Sutton wrote on social media after the defeat in Denmark: ‘Sobering night for Celtic… no great surprise. Midtjylland were better in every department. Great to see MON return and the wins against Falkirk and Rangers, but I’d hate to see MON stay on too long and damage his legacy. This isn’t on him at all. New manager needed in place asap.’
But Brazil sees it differently, as he told talkSPORT: ‘No, no. I don’t think so (it will affect O’Neill’s legacy). People love Martin.’
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