HE may have signed for the Rangers but he never stopped supporting Celtic – he even went to the Scottish Cup Final in 2018 when Celtic beat Motherwell to wrap up the Double Treble and this caused considerable upset among the Ibrox hordes.
Today O’Halloran will be back at Celtic Park, playing for St Johnstone and looking to get his season off to a flyer, having finally got himself fully fit after an injury hit spell in Australia – his destination to get as far away from Ibrox as possible!
The Saints forward has been speaking about today’s match at Celtic Park when St Johnstone will try to put their disappointment at going out of the Betfred Cup behind them by surprising or perhaps just frustrating Neil Lennon’s 8 in a Row Champions.
“It’s a fresh season and we have to go into it with a positive outlook. We have to put the disappointment of the Betfred Cup behind us,” St Johnstone forward Michael O’Halloran told the media as reported by The Courier.
“Having said that, you couldn’t get a more difficult first game. But we have nothing to lose going there. We will be going there looking to take something from the game.
“Hopefully we will be organised and difficult to beat. You can see we are down to the bare bones a bit and hopefully we can get everyone back quickly and maybe get a few boys in as well in the next few weeks.
“The manager rested a few of us at Forfar because we were already out of the cup. It’s always great to get a good start to any season. That can be key.
“We have a difficult run of fixtures early on but get a win or two and I’m sure it will put a smile on everyone’s faces.”
After his torrid time at Ibrox, Celtic fan O’Halloran headed over to try his luck in Australian football at Melbourne City. However injuries hammered his time down under and he’s ended up back in Perthshire playing for Tommy Wright. And now he’s fully fit the winger reckons he’ll be back to his best in this campaign.
“I feel fit and ready to go. I’m looking forward to it because I wasn’t ready for last season to end. I’d had a long time off for one reason or another.
“I know what I needed to do over the summer to make sure I am fit and sharp. I’m really looking forward to playing at Celtic Park.
“After missing so much football, I look forward to games and I feel as fit as I’ve ever done. I might be asked to play up front if Kano doesn’t make it. I have played there before so that wouldn’t be an issue,” the Saints man said.
“It would be good if we could catch Celtic cold, in between European matches. But they have a big squad and they can rotate it.
“They rested James Forrest and Callum McGregor in midweek because they were 5-0 up from the first leg and they were two of their big players from last season.
“It will be a cauldron but as a footballer you like playing in these sort of atmospheres and hopefully we can get something from the game.”
Speaking about today’s opponents manager Neil Lennon reckons that Tommy Wright’s team, with O’Halloran up front or in a wide position, will cause Celtic problems.
“Tommy Wright is a very shrewd manager, and St Johnstone are always a tough nut to crack. They’ve given us difficult games, they always have something in them, and I expect that to be the same today,” Neil Lennon said to the official Celtic site.
Also on The Celtic Star today…
The First Trophy Celtic won in Season 1966/67 turned out to be the hardest…see HERE.
Five more than Five Fake Stars, get set for Honest Mistakes, Controversial Decisions and Tav’s Penalties Galore…see HERE.
