Martin O’Neill has opened up on the period around Celtic’s League Cup final defeat, admitting he would have liked to have been in charge for the Hampden showpiece after guiding the team through the semi-final.
Celtic had beaten Rangers to reach the final, a result that offered a lift at the time. It came during a difficult run, with performances uneven and confidence not fully there. The semi-final win showed what the group could still produce on the day.
But by the time the final arrived, O’Neill was no longer in the dugout. Wilfried Nancy had taken charge, and the team went on to lose to St Mirren at Hampden. That result added to a run that never really settled under the new manager.
Looking back, O’Neill admits there was a part of him that wanted to see it through. At the same time, he accepts the situation the club found itself in and why the change happened when it did.
He said: (Celtic FC YouTube), “That’s probably true (I’d have loved to be in charge for the League Cup final), really, at the time.
“But I think the club had gone down, a long way down, with Wilfried Nancy at the time.
“So I kind of understood that. So it was just a rather selfish thought at the time.”
The timing of that change shaped how the final played out. Nancy came in with little time to work with the players before a big game.
For the players, it meant adjusting quickly to a different voice and a different way of setting up. That isn’t easy in the middle of a run of fixtures, especially when confidence is already fragile.
O’Neill’s reflection brings it back to that moment. The semi-final showed one level, the final another. The gap between the two was where the season turned.
