Martin O’Neill could yet find himself standing in the opposite dugout to Neil Lennon in the Scottish Cup final. If Celtic get past St Mirren, that is the storyline waiting on the other side, and it would bring real edge and emotion to Hampden.
O’Neill brought Lennon to Celtic from Leicester in 2000 and made him a key figure in one of the club’s most successful modern sides. More than two decades on, both men could collide in a story neither of them could have imagined.
There is a genuine chance they could meet with silverware at stake.
Lennon has already done his part. He guided Dunfermline into the final after a tense semi-final win over Falkirk and, in doing so, set up the possibility of a reunion loaded with history.
But Celtic still have work to do, and none of it looks straightforward.
St Mirren have already shown this season that they can hurt Celtic. They beat them in the League Cup during Wilfried Nancy’s brief and chaotic spell in charge, a reminder that Hampden does not always stick to the script.
Even the league meetings have offered no comfort. Celtic have won all three, but every one of them finished 1-0. Tight games. Hard-fought games. Games decided by the finest of margins.
St Mirren will head to Hampden believing they can do it again.
There is also a more personal layer for supporters. Many will still feel O’Neill was denied his moment earlier in the season. He guided Celtic to the League Cup final with that memorable win over Rangers, only to be replaced before the final when the club moved for a permanent appointment.
That decision still does not sit right with plenty of fans. Now there is a chance to remedy that.
But Celtic have to earn that chance first. There is no skipping ahead. No getting lost in the romance of what might come next. St Mirren have already shown they are capable of making life difficult, and Celtic know exactly what is at stake if their standards slip.
If they do come through, the reward is about far more than a place in the final.
It would be a meeting rich in history and connection, a sense of football coming full circle.
Mentor against student.
Hampden has hosted plenty of big occasions. This one would carry a story of its own.
What a dilemma this would be for Willie Collum and the rest of the most corrupt officials in European Football history!
IF, (and right now the SFA will be planning every possible way not to allow it) they get into the final, Celtic, the club the SFA love to cheat at every opportunity, and Neil Lennon, a player, coach and manager they targeted, hated, cheated, even created fictional reasons to fine and suspend him while he was with Celtic, currently stand to face off and create the biggest nightmare of all time for Football’s most corrupt organization!
How about that!