Q: Just going on those memories of the European games back in those days, the away matches in particular, some memorable ones, weren’t there? Can you remember ones that stand out to yourself that you may lean on this week, even?
Martin O’Neill: “Oh, the games? Oh, the 2003 games, yeah. They are very, very vivid. Very vivid indeed. You know, when I think about, well, naturally Blackburn Rovers, big, big game for us. They played very well at the Celtic Park, and then we go and defeat them. And that was important. I think it was important for Scottish football, because people were saying that Blackburn, although they were riding high at the time, they were fifth, sixth or seventh in the league, in the Premier League. And if we lost that there people would make disparaging comments then about Scottish football. So, I always felt that that was important for us.
“Then we go and beat Liverpool in the quarter-final, which was fantastic. Then we scramble over the line in the semi-final when Henrik scores the goal. And then we lose to a very, very talented side in the final, who spent a lot of time on the ground, I must admit. A lot of time, you know. I’m not even sure you were born at the time, but anyway. That keeps me awake at night. But they went on to win the Champions League the following year. So, a great team, and a brilliant, brilliant manager. One of the best managers that’s been in the game. But they could have done a lot less play acting.”
Q: Another big performance is required against Midtjylland?
Martin O’Neill: “Massive, really. Very, very good side. Seriously, really good team. And they deserve to be where they are. They’ve got nine points. It’s no surprise to me. I didn’t realise how good they were until I saw them against Forest.”
Q: Martin, your last European tie as Celtic manager was a 0-0 against Milan. I think that season you also got a 1-1 draw in the Nou Camp. As a Celtic manager, does it give you an extra thrill taking the team into Europe?
Martin O’Neill: “Yes. I mean, they’ve already played three games. So, yes, I am genuinely excited by them playing again. It’s nice. It’s great. And following on from Sunday, as I mentioned, the confidence booster. But, yes, it’s just a game. I think that if I was looking at the table, I think that, I mean, I suppose most teams or teams of our ilk would be looking at maybe trying to get 10 points on the board. And maybe that might be enough to get through. And we’ve only got two home games left, three away. So it’s not going to be easy. But, yes, getting back to it, really excited by it.”
Q: Martin, just a quick one on the fitness of everyone. Has everyone survived the weekend? And players that have been out, are they any closer to returning?
Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, I think that we’ve come out of it reasonably okay. A few knocks and a few bruises. A few people who haven’t played a great deal, obviously, went down with cramp and things like that, which is not really surprising given the pace of the game. So, yeah, we’re not too bad. We’ll maybe think about making a couple of changes to the side, but we’ll see how it goes. We genuinely have not made our minds up yet.”
Q: You’ve added young Callum Osmand, obviously, to the squad. Was that a no-brainer, really, given the injuries and stuff like that?
Martin O’Neill: “That’s true, yeah. So, we’ve got two centre-backs, and the big lad as well, who played at Hearts, so we’ve got that. But you’re right, it was just an automatic thing for him to come in.”
