Copyright dailymail
Decked out in a retro adidas tracksuit with lime green trim, Martin O’Neill stood on the Hampden touchline looking like he could easily have been due on Centre Court to face Bjorn Borg. If his choice of clothing was very much from the vintage collection, then the sight of this 73-year-old evergreen Celtic manager emerging victorious against Rangers also felt like a blast from the past. At the end of a pulsating encounter between Scottish football’s two most bitter rivals, it was O’Neill’s name which rang out high into the skies above Mount Florida. A week which started with the shock resignation of Brendan Rodgers finished with O’Neill being serenaded by supporters and hailed as Celtic’s saviour, just as he was in his pomp 25 years ago. ‘I was 73 when I arrived on Monday, I’m 94 now,’ he joked on TV afterwards about a match which showcased this rivalry at its most intense and chaotic best. Much had been made of O’Neill’s comments on talkSPORT last Monday which effectively dismissed Rangers as also-rans this season, claiming they were ‘so far adrift it’s untrue’ and posed ‘no threat whatsoever’. The fact that an SOS call from his former club then saw him named interim manager only a few hours later was always likely to offer an intriguing sub-plot in this Premier Sports Cup semi-final. But Rangers could not make him eat his words. Instead, it was O’Neill who drove the blue half of Glasgow radio gaga after steering Celtic to a dramatic victory in extra-time. With goals from the two Callums — McGregor and Osmand — in extra-time, it is they who will now advance to face St Mirren in next month’s final as they aim to win the first silverware of the season. There is already momentum building among supporters that O’Neill should be the man to lead the club into that showpiece occasion. There is also likely to be a fire burning within the man himself. Although this was sold to him as a temporary arrangement for the short-term, days like this are bound to fuel his desire to at least see out the season. If O’Neill is not still in charge against St Mirren on December 14, it would mean that, bizarrely, Celtic would have had a different manager in the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and in the final itself. Roy Hodgson managed Crystal Palace until he was 76. O’Neill is unlikely to make it that far, but he is already proving that age is only a number. He arrived earlier this week and made no secret of the fact he barely knew the names of some of the players now under his command. With the coaching on the training pitch left predominantly to Shaun Maloney, it is O’Neill who is the public face of the post-Rodgers era. Even in the very twilight of his managerial career, O’Neill has breathed new life into a Celtic team that looked dead and buried under his predecessor. ‘Martin has just given me the belief and the trust,’ said goalscorer Osmand, a 19-year-old for whom this marked only his second ever game in senior football. ‘It only takes one person to believe in you and hopefully this is just the start for me. This is the craziest day for my life ever, this won’t be beaten, it’s the best day of my life.’ Celtic were excellent in the first half, playing with an energy and aggression that clearly unsettled Rangers, who had also come into the match under a new manager in Danny Rohl. At 73 and 36 years of age respectively, this was a generation game between the two men in both dugouts — and it was Celtic’s golden oldie who rolled back the years. O’Neill started the match perched in the stand overlooking the dugouts. Preferring a more aerial vantage point to assess the early exchanges, he stood motionless like a hawk watching its prey from above. By the time we had played eight minutes of football, he had swooped. Living and breathing every moment in his own inimitable style, he prowled the touchline as his name echoed out around the green half of the stadium. One of the major criticisms under Rodgers was that Celtic had become too predictable, ponderous and one-paced. But, as was the case in the 4-0 win over Falkirk in midweek, they played the ball forward much quicker and looked all the better for doing so. Celtic lost control of the game during a second half which saw ten-man Rangers fight back to equalise, with a penalty from James Tavernier cancelling out Johnny Kenny’s first-half opener. But they pulled clear again in extra-time, with McGregor and Osmand ensuring that O’Neill prevailed in an Old Firm fixture which came 7,428 days after his last taste of the Glasgow derby. That equates to just over 20 years and when he left Celtic in 2005 due to personal reasons, there was such an outpouring of emotion due to the circumstances. Not only due to the fact that the club was losing a much-cherished and successful manager, but also the fact that O’Neill was stepping away to care for his wife, who was ill at the time. The emotional bond that exists between O’Neill and Celtic is immense. Only Jock Stein can top the iconic status he holds among supporters. Even although he enjoyed rich success at some of his former clubs as a player and manager, most notably Nottingham Forest, Leicester City, Aston Villa and Wycombe Wanderers, none of those clubs have the same emotional significance to O’Neill as Celtic does. With so much anger among supporters who have spent much of this season protesting against the club’s board, it is the healing hands of O’Neill which have gone some way to restoring a feeling of positivity. When he took his first steps in management with English non-league side Grantham Town in 1987, his Rangers counterpart Rohl wasn’t even born at that point. The young German has proven to be an impressive tactician during his short spell at Rangers so far and he should be heartened by the fact Rangers pushed Celtic all the way despite being a man down. The fact that Celtic still haven’t beaten Rangers over 90 minutes since December 2024 still stands, but this was a day for simply getting the job done at all costs. Having conquered this Glasgow battleground a quarter of a century ago, the old master had returned and Celtic’s sworn enemy had been vanquished once again.
