Martin O'Neill reflects on first month back at Celtic: 'My wife said I'd mess it up!'

Martin Macdonald

• 28 Nov 2025 05:45 CST
• 3 min read

Nieuws

Celtic manager Martin O'Neill has joked that his wife had major doubts about his shock return to club management.

If you told a Celtic fan back in February when they were moments away from defeating Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena that by the following October, manager Brendan Rodgers would be away and replaced by veteran boss O'Neill - you'd have been warned to put down the pilsner.

But, it happened. Following a poor start to the season on the pitch, enabled by a disastrous summer transfer window, and major tensions between the board and supporters, Rodgers left the club.

Influential shareholder Dermot Desmond then turned to O'Neill to come in on a temporary basis. The Irishman is beloved by Celtic fans due to his exploits in the early noughties, leading the club to a domestic treble in his first season and, of course, the UEFA Cup Final in Seville in 2003. In all, he won seven trophies in his time at Celtic Park.

This Thursday, he masterminded a 3-1 away victory against Feyenoord in the Europa League, while he has guided the team to a League Cup final and closed the gap to Hearts in the Scottish Premiership.

On Sunday, Celtic take on Hibs in the league and it very well may be O'Neill's last game in charge as the club is poised to appoint Columbus Crew boss Wilfried Nancy as their new head coach.

"It's hard to say," O'Neill replied when asked about the moment he was asked to return a month ago. "My two daughters were all for going for it, but my wife said I'd probably mess it up.

"I haven't messed it up so far. It's been great. The results are what you live by and they've been terrific."

Focusing specifically on the win against Feyenoord, he said: "We played really well. There was a period where we were dominant, controlling the ball and exuding a lot of confidence, which was lovely to see.

"Going a goal behind, we could have crumbled. But we showed character and resilience and then when we got the equaliser, the confidence flooded into the side.

"I said to the players 'you will get a chance to play tonight'. We took that chance."

Oldest managers working in football

O'Neill is now the older statesman in European football at 73 years old, but who are some of the other veterans still in the dugout for club teams?

There are only two managers in Europe's major leagues who are over the age of 70 and that is O'Neill and Manuel Pellegrini of Real Betis.

Pellegrini has enjoyed a magnificent career and has managed some of the biggest clubs around in Man City and Real Madrid. He has been in charge of Betis since 2020.

There is only one manager in the Premier League in his sixties and that is Everton boss David Moyes at 62. The oldest manager in the history of the Premier League is Roy Hodgson, who returned for a stint at Crystal Palace between 2023 and 2024 when he was 75.

The Rome derbies this season will feature two veteran coaches in the dugout as 66-year-old Maurizio Sarri is in charge of Lazio and 67-year-old Gian Piero Gasperini is in charge of rivals Roma.

62-year-old Marco Baroni is also at the helm at Torino.

Rafa Benitez was recently appointed the head coach of Panathinaikos and this season he'll take on 64-year-old Olympiacos head coach Jose Luis Mendilibar for the title in Greece.

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