'Final, incredible chapter waiting as O'Neill eyes historic end at Celtic'
[BBC] Twenty-five years ago to the very day, April 7, 2001, Tommy Johnson's solitary strike against St Mirren sealed Martin O'Neill's first league title as Celtic manager. It was a defining moment and one that ushered in a golden era under O'Neill. And now, a quarter of a century later, he's on the cusp of once again repeating that feat.
With just six league games remaining, Celtic find themselves in the thick of a title race that feels as much about belief and determination as it does about performances and pretty football. But if you ask any fan in the race who they'd rather have at the helm between Martin O'Neill, Derek McInnes and Danny Rohl, then there's only one credible answer. Many have asked where Celtic would be this season without all of our late winners, or without the 19 goals that Benjamin Nygren has scored Both very valid questions.
But the real question is - where would we be without Martin O'Neill? A man - now at the age of 74 - who has stepped in not once, but twice to answer the call when Celtic needed him most. And let's be clear, this isn't a move that he had to make at all.
This isn't a job Martin O'Neill absolutely needed, and he was perfectly happy in semi-retirement, whiling away the days making various media appearances, featuring on the after-dinner circuit, chairing the League Managers Association and taking in the odd game here and there. Following a lifetime in the game, he had nothing left to prove. But it's a move he made for two reasons.
Firstly, because he still has that hunger, that fire in his belly, that will to win - after all these years. That desire has never gone away. And secondly, because he believed he could make a difference.