Martin O’Neill’s final words to the Celtic players last night after the 1-0 win over Dundee have been captured on film by Celtic TV…
As his interim term as Celtic manager came to an end the legendary Celtic manager was still giving out encouragement, searching out Benjamin Nygren to tell him to become a Swedish fourth on his list behind greats Bjorn Borg, Abba and of course Henrik Larsson.
Liam Scales too was sought out as O’Neill told his fellow Irishman that he was having an outstanding season and noted the big moments where Scales has been up to the task.
Callum McGregor as you would expect also was praised, with Martin describing the Celtic captain as being magnificent.
Collectively he praised the group saying that while he is 73, he felt 95 after the Falkirk game but because of the Celtic players he feels like 23 again.
In his post match media conference Martin O’Neill also went out of his way to talk up Paulo Bernardo and Michel-Ange Balikwisha who didn’t get much game-time under Martin’s short-term stay as Celtic interim manager. Asked what these Celtic players mean to him O’Neill said:
“Oh, they were remarkable. A great deal, I have to say. Now I know I’ve said this before, but it is worth repeating. A couple of the lads, the likes of Paulo Bernardo and Michel-Ange Balikwisha, haven’t had the minutes on the field.
“But the new manager could come in and they could flourish. They could be better. I’ve said to them in the dressing room that they might be better than the boys I’ve just been playing for the last five, six weeks.
“It is about players you know. It was just a matter of maybe getting some confidence restored, learning about them every single day, the sort of training they do, what they do in training.
“But they’ve been really super, super, super. They have answered everything in many aspects, met the demands that you obviously have to make of them during the course of a game, like run harder than you did before, deal with the ball properly. We didn’t. Not every moment was perfect by any stretch of the imagination.
“But I think the fight back after being physically mauled by Midtjylland was great. To win in Feyenoord was just a lovely moment. It gives them a chance again. These games that they’re playing will not be easy, but it gives them a chance,” Martin O’Neill added.
Here’s the video of his final dressing room message to the Celtic squad now under the new manager, Wilfried Nancy who will be in the Celtic dugout on Sunday for the top of the table clash with Hearts in the Scottish Premiership.
Martin’s final words to the Bhoys 👏#CELDUN | #CelticFC🍀 pic.twitter.com/Pcl8uKm3bP
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) December 4, 2025
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