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 It's 1st June 2000 and we've just appointed our 3rd manager in 3 years. The Rev Al is there as the new man meets the press for the first time.
Welcome, Martin O'Neill
Well, no doubt everyone will see/read/hear plenty about the MON press conference, so I'll refrain from going over old ground. Here are a couple of things which the cameras missed.
During the printed meeja session MON was met with his first taste of the standard Scottish hack. Unbelievably Ron McKay managed to take him through a scenario whereby he had lost to Rangers, and stated "You realise that'll get you the sack?" O'Neill dealt with this diplomatically, before ending with "We're not playing them next week, are we?"
His dealings with the meeja will be interesting as the season progresses. My impression is that they will soon tire of him as they realise that he's just too fecking smart for them.
Today's friendly, jokey, can-I-shake-your-hand-Martin demeanour will quickly be replaced by their usual snidey, petty ways. These, though, will be swatted aside (much like KD treats them, really). No doubt their best chance of catching him off-guard will be post-, rather than pre-, match.
I was lucky enough to end up "behind the scenes" after the main business of the day was complete (that's what happens when you tag along behind the new manager - maybe everyone thought I was his agent). Anyway, firstly I'd followed some of the hacks into one of the lounges overlooking the front door and got to look down on MON as he waved to the gathered fhans, and was given a superb welcome (er, he was - not me).
As I then made my way down the stairs, there was the bhold bhoy, and entourage, coming back into the foyer. I blended in with the crowd and before I knew it I was (a) on the trackside as more pictures were taken, and (b) in possession of the very scarf that MON had held up on the front steps.
By the same good fortune (and having engaged one of the Celtic View staff in conversation), as the throng moved back up the tunnel, I found myself in the boardroom. Set up in one corner was a television camera, and it transpired that Celtic TV were preparing to film two short pieces, one where the interviewer was to be Tony "Community Singing" Hamilton, the other where Matt McGlone was to be "Parky". Never one to pass up an opportunity, I hung
about.
I even managed to grab an autograph (two actually...for my kids - honest!). "That's my first as Celtic manager," he told me.
I have to say that Martin O'Neill is an immensely likeable guy. Maybe I'll feel differently if things go arse over tit, but it's kind of hard to imagine saying anything *bad* about the man. His respect for Celtic, and particularly Jock Stein, is genuine and deep-rooted.
Without wishing to breach copyright, here a couple of examples of where he is coming from.
Matt McGlone had commented on O'Neill's "animated" touchline persona, and later asked how his [O'Neill's] father had reacted to Celtic victories. MON replied that "if you think I'm demented during a game, you should have seen my father jumping all around the house when Celtic won."
He was asked about his recollections of the '67 final, to which he said that he'd been at boarding school in Derry at the time, and the priests had allowed everyone to watch the game. I'd say he's been our first manager for a while who can recall precisely where they were that day.
MM also wanted to know if MON had ever, in his younger days, imagined managing Celtic. His answer was that he'd dreamed of playing for the club, but not managing "because Jock Stein was the manager, and I just thought he'd be the manager for next hundred years."
Watching O'Neill handle himself today I have to admit to being very impressed. One factor which I had felt was relatively unimportant was an understanding of, and affinity with, Celtic. I thought that all that mattered was the managerial ability of the chosen one. I'm now not so sure. Possibly O'Neill encompasses all the best virtues that Burns and Jansen brought to the club, with a bit of Ferguson thrown in (it's too much to dare dream of a new Stein). By that I mean he could be a man who combines winning with passion, or maybe combines passion with winning. Here's hoping. |
Comments
Admittedly, he did more than I did in Seville.
I have always found MON a very intruiging character having heard some first hand accounts of his management techniques from a friend who worked with him at a previous club. His obvious intellectual sharpness, and the fact he has a Law degree is another thing that just sets him apart from other managers.
Reverend, is there perchance an entry from O'Neill's verbal mauling of Jim Traynor before the Barcelona game? If so I'd love to read it, and I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one.
However, with GS try to follow Mr O'Neill, it was never going to be a easy ride for him.
Was his first home game Bordeaux? I remember turning to my Brother and saying "I can feel something special happening with this guy". I wasnt wrong. What a great 5 year. Never to be forgotten. I am just afraid that this was our 67-74 (My Dads era) and we wont get a time like this again until I am my Dads age, and my Sons are in what were my shoes.
It will come again, but how long will we have to wait? Roll on 2030-2035 by my estimations!!
2000/01 - Celtic won the treble for first time in 32 years, including only our 3rd title in 13 years by a 15 points and 21 goal margin, stopping Dick Advocaat win 3iar and a 6-2 win against the huns to start off his old firm record.
2001/02 - Celtic won back to back titles for the first time in 20 years, including a record breaking 103/114 points in the league and a goal difference of +76, conceding only 18 SPL goals and winning the league by an incredible 18 points and 21 goal margin. In Europe we knocked out Ajax to qualify for Champions League group stages, including 3-1 win in Amsterdam, for the first time in our history and once in the group we won all our 3 home games including beating Italian giants Juventus and the team that would win the Champions League just 2 and a half years later in Porto. We just miss out in qualifying in the exact same way that benefitted Strachan twice.
2002/03 - Celtic won no trophies while the huns won the treble but with Martin taking us to our first European final in 33 years, us just losing 3-2 in extra time with 10 men to the soon to be Champions of Europe in Jose Mourinho's Porto and memories in Seville to last us all a lifetime, it was worth it.
2003/04 - Celtic won the domestic double as we swept aside the huns with some glorious football led by the magnificent Henrik Larsson and a superb record of: P38 W31 D5 L2 F105 A25 Pts 98 GD +80 and a record breaking 25 back to back SPL victories in a row! On the European side, we beat a very impressive Lyon side 2-0 at Celtic Park and were minutes away from qualifying for the Last 16 but a suicidal moment from Bobo Balde in the Stade Gerland ensured we'd miss out once more, however a win against Barcelona, a draw in the Nou Camp and it meant we had knocked Barcelona out of Europe!!! Sadly we were knocked out by our now allies Villarreal but led by the magnificent Juan Roman Riquelme, it was no shame to depart in those circumstances indeed.
2004/05 - The deterioration in Geraldine's condition definitely got to our gaffer as he found it, understandably, too difficult to focus his whole attention on the team. In Europe, we were placed in the group of death and sadly finished bottom but our 2nd consecutive draw in the Nou Camp in the year 2004 and a win against big spenders Shakhtar Donetsk ensured it wasn't embarrassing. Our domestic campaign started off well with a win against Rangers to make it a glorious 7 back to back wins in a row against the huns and a true whitewash! Sadly 2 minutes of madness by Scott McDonald and not taking our changes left us without the title in our final game but a week later Martin signed off in his final match in charge with a Scottish Cup and his 7th trophy in what was the best time to be a Celtic supporter since the mid 1970s.
God bless you Martin O'Neill.
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