Martin O’Neill Says Celtic Have Rejuvenated Him, But One Year After His Return Can We Honestly Say He’s Done The Same For The Football Club?

Martin O’Neill has admitted that his return to Celtic has rejuvenated him.

And listening to his press conference ahead of Dundee United, I found myself wondering whether we can honestly say he’s done the same for Celtic Football Club.

Because there’s something about Martin’s return that I think has made it particularly difficult for supporters, journalists and Celtic fan media to judge what’s happening on the pitch.

Romanticism. Nostalgia. Sentimentality.

Call it whatever you want.

But it’s there, and I think it’s affecting the way we discuss the manager.

I’ve been guilty of it myself.

In fact, until fairly recently, I was falling into exactly the same trap that now frustrates me whenever I read another Celtic article or listen to another podcast.

Why Do We Always Have To Apologise Before Criticising Martin?

You’ve heard it a hundred times.

“I love Martin O’Neill, but…”

“Nobody can question what Martin has done for Celtic, but…”

“We’ll always be grateful for Seville, but…”

Why?

Why do we feel the need to spend the opening five minutes of every discussion reminding everybody that Martin O’Neill was a brilliant Celtic manager more than twenty years ago?

We know!

Nobody has forgotten Seville. Nobody has forgotten the trophies, the European nights or the transformation he brought about during his first spell.

But we’re not discussing 2003.

We’re discussing Celtic in October 2026.

And I think the constant need to qualify criticism with declarations of affection is becoming ridiculous.

It’s almost as though we’re asking permission to criticise him.

I’ve made a conscious effort to stop doing it myself.

That doesn’t mean I’ve suddenly forgotten everything Martin achieved. It means I’m trying to judge the manager standing in the dugout today rather than the one I remember from my younger years.

Martin O’Neill’s history at Celtic should never make him immune from criticism of his present.

That shouldn’t be controversial.

Yet somehow, I suspect it will be.

Nine Wins From Ten Is Brilliant, But There’s Another Record We Need To Discuss

Let’s deal with the domestic football first.

Nine victories from ten Premiership matches.

That’s an excellent return, and nobody can reasonably argue otherwise.

Celtic have continued winning league games, often finding ways to get results when performances haven’t been particularly convincing.

The 7-1 demolition of Hearts was outstanding.

Sunday’s victory at Easter Road showed determination in horrible conditions.

There’s plenty to be pleased about domestically.

But here’s the problem.

Martin O’Neill has lost all three of Celtic’s Europa League matches this season.

Three games. Three defeats. No points.

Ferencváros came to Celtic Park and won 3-1.

Benfica beat us 4-1 in Lisbon.

Celta Vigo arrived in Glasgow and left with a 2-1 victory.

That’s eight goals conceded across three Europa League matches.

And Celtic have nothing to show for any of them.

I’m sorry, but that is an abject failure.

There’s no other description I’m comfortable using.

Not because I enjoy criticising Martin, but because that’s what the results tell us.

Austria Wasn’t Just A Defeat. It Was A Disaster.

And we haven’t even mentioned LASK yet.

Celtic travelled to Austria for the second leg of a Champions League play-off with a 3-0 advantage from the first match.

Callum McGregor then scored to put us 4-0 ahead on aggregate.

Four goals!

At that stage, Celtic should have been planning for Champions League football.

Instead, we somehow managed to lose 5-1 on the night and 5-4 on aggregate after extra time.

An absolute calamity.

A European disasterclass that should never be forgotten simply because we’ve subsequently enjoyed a few impressive domestic victories.

That collapse cost Celtic a place in Europe’s premier competition and the financial benefits that come with it.

Now we’ve followed that embarrassment with three consecutive defeats in the Europa League.

Four European defeats in succession.

Fourteen goals conceded across those four matches.

Those are not the statistics of a Celtic side making progress in Europe.

They’re the statistics of a team that has gone backwards.

And if another Celtic manager had overseen that sequence, would we be spending so much time reminding everybody how much we loved him?

I very much doubt it.

Has Nostalgia Made Us More Forgiving Than We Should Be?

This is the question I keep coming back to.

Are we judging Martin O’Neill differently because he’s Martin O’Neill?

I think we are.

And I include myself in that criticism.

There was something genuinely exciting about his return. Seeing him back at Celtic brought back memories of a period when we felt capable of competing with anybody.

But memories don’t organise a midfield.

Nostalgia doesn’t establish a defensive structure.

And the affection supporters have for a manager won’t suddenly make Celtic competitive in Europe.

We’ve watched constant changes in formation, personnel and approach.

Sometimes Celtic look terrific.

Other times, particularly against stronger opposition, we look completely unsure of ourselves.

I think back to Ange Postecoglou.

Even when his Celtic side struggled, supporters generally understood what he was trying to achieve.

There was a recognisable identity.

You could see the football he wanted to play, even when the execution wasn’t good enough.

A year into Martin’s return, I’m still struggling to identify what this Celtic team is supposed to become.

That’s a serious concern.

Celtic Have Rejuvenated Martin. What About The Other Way Around?

Martin was remarkably open when discussing what the last twelve months have meant to him.

“The club has done more for me than I’ve done for the club,” he admitted.

He spoke about returning to a game he loves after spending years watching from a distance.

I don’t question his sincerity for a moment.

But Celtic Football Club isn’t here to provide anybody with a wonderful final chapter to their managerial career.

We’re here to compete.

We’re here to win trophies.

And we’re supposed to be building a football team capable of representing Celtic properly in European competition.

The domestic results suggest Martin remains perfectly capable of delivering success in Scotland.

Europe tells a completely different story.

Of course, recruitment and the decisions made by those above him must be considered. Celtic’s problems didn’t begin with Martin’s return.

However, that doesn’t absolve the manager of responsibility for what happens on the pitch.

He selects the players.

He chooses the formations.

He decides how Celtic approach these matches.

And he must accept criticism when those decisions don’t work.

Respecting Martin Doesn’t Mean Protecting Him From Reality

I’m not calling for Martin O’Neill to be sacked.

Nor am I suggesting Celtic’s excellent league results should be ignored.

But I am saying we need to stop treating honest criticism of the manager as though it’s somehow disrespectful to his legacy.

It’s not.

I don’t want to begin every article about Martin by reminding readers how much he means to Celtic.

That should go without saying by now.

What matters is whether Celtic are improving under his management.

Domestically, the results are fantastic.

In Europe, they’ve been dreadful.

Tactically, I remain unconvinced.

And after twelve months, I think supporters have every right to ask where this team is heading.

Martin O’Neill says Celtic have rejuvenated him.

I’m delighted that returning to football has brought him so much satisfaction.

But sentiment cannot be the standard by which we judge the Celtic manager.

A year after his return, Martin has rediscovered his love for the job.

Now he needs to show us that Celtic have rediscovered their ability to compete where it really matters.

Because right now, the romantic story is considerably more convincing than the European football.