Martin O’Neill Says Celtic Are ‘In The Plus’ — Our Manager Is Now Turning The Screw Publicly And It Is Wonderful To See

There’s something slightly different about Martin O’Neill right now.

Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but the longer he’s been back at Celtic, the more comfortable he seems becoming in his own skin again as the Celtic manager.

And I can’t help but think back to something I wrote earlier this summer.

Remember the O’Neill ultimado?

I suggested at the time that there appeared to have been a change in Martin’s demeanour before Celtic finally delivered Kasper Høgh.

My theory was that O’Neill had made his position abundantly clear behind closed doors – if Celtic genuinely wanted him to lead this rebuild, they needed to start delivering the calibre of player he wanted or else he would be offski.

Take from that what you will.

But what happened next?

Celtic started spending.

And now I’m getting that feeling again.

O’Neill doesn’t strike me as someone who will storm into a press conference and publicly demand another £20million from the board.

That’s not his style.

Instead, he’s applying pressure in a far more Martin O’Neill way.

Speaking about Celtic’s transfer business, O’Neill pointed out that the club are:

“On the plus side in terms of money at this minute.”

He referenced the number of players who have departed and the reduction in the wage bill before reiterating:

“Regardless of what the result is, whichever competition we happen to be in, we’ve got some days before the transfer deadline, and I hope that we will get some people in.”

That feels deliberate.

Martin isn’t sitting there with Transfermarkt open doing the sums for his own entertainment.

He’s the manager.

When your manager publicly reminds everyone that Celtic have brought substantial money in, moved players off the wage bill and are still financially in the plus, there’s surely a message attached.

There’s room to do more.

O’Neill has now doubled down ahead of the second leg against LASK.

Asked whether further recruitment depended on Celtic qualifying for the Champions League, his answer was effectively no.

Regardless of which European competition Celtic end up playing in, he still wants additions before the deadline.

And perhaps that’s where the biggest change in O’Neill lies.

When he initially returned, he was the firefighter.

Then he started winning.

Then he delivered trophies.

Then he got the job permanently.

Now he’s sitting with a 3-0 advantage in a Champions League play-off having watched the likes of Høgh and Camilo Durán justify Celtic finally spending proper money.

His position has never been stronger.

And perhaps that gives him the confidence to push that wee bit harder.

There are still holes in this squad. Johnston’s injury creates an obvious issue at right-back. Midfield needs further reinforcement. Celtic are looking at goalkeepers and the left-back situation isn’t properly resolved either.

Martin knows it.

The board know it.

And now he’s making sure we know that he knows it.

Was there really an O’Neill ultimatum earlier this summer?

Only those inside Celtic know.

But something certainly changed.

And several weeks later, Martin O’Neill appears increasingly comfortable publicly turning the screw again.

Not an ultimatum this time.

Not yet anyway.

But keep turning it, Martin.

Keep Your Eyes On The Board.