Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney celebrate Celtic’s opening goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Falkirk at Celtic Park on October 29, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Q: You’ve had an extra day or two since we saw you after the Falkirk game. It’s been such a busy week, but what have you managed to do or achieve? What’s been put across by you and Shaun?
Martin O’Neill: “Well, the group of players who played most of the game had a day off, so I saw them today. And then we had a training session with the other players, getting to know what some of the lads are capable of doing. And it’s been intense for me to try and look at young faces, seeing them, and trying to put them into context. Well, just about everything. But I managed it this morning, it was great to see some of the younger lads playing. Even if I was here a month or something, it would be really hard to gauge exactly what the players can do. And I think this is the point. The best way for me to find out is naturally on the field of play. But then at the same time, there’s no such thing as a gimme. You can’t put on somebody just to see what you’re like. Sorry, the games are too important.”
Celtic interim manager Martin O’Neill reacts during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Falkirk at Celtic Park on October 29, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Q: Martin, you said in your previous spell that 72 hours before, you were nervous. Is that a totally different feeling now, second time round?
Martin O’Neill: “Me? Absolutely not. No, no. Worse. By the time that we’d played Rangers, I think we’d played five or six games, so I knew my players pretty well inside out at that stage. This is something I wouldn’t know about our boys. I learned a great deal in the Falkirk game, which was great, great for us. Restoration of confidence, I think is what I said, which was lovely. So, we’ll go into this game with that confidence, and that’s the most important thing.”
Q: Is that the one game that most fans pick out, or people that meet you, away from the ground and say, that’s the game I remember?
Martin O’Neill: “In the 6-2 game? Absolutely. Yeah, honestly. Even people who weren’t there. I see some lads come up and say to me, that was a great game, and they weren’t even born. So, you’re supposed to laugh at that. But they tell me that their grandfathers and fathers were saying about it. Yet, it became a really pivotal match for us, not just that season, but probably for continuing on.”
