'Top-level manager O'Neill key to Celtic success'
Former Celtic midfielder Roy Keane has hailed Martin O'Neill for driving the club from "disarray" to a dramatic title success this season. When the Northern Irishman returned in January for his second interim spell following a disastrous six league games under Wilfried Nancy, the club were six points behind leaders Hearts. But the 74-year-old got Celtic ticking again and they ended the Premiership season with a run of seven straight wins, including a final-day decider against Hearts, to snatch a fifth title in a row.
And Keane, who assisted O'Neill during his Republic of Ireland tenure, was impressed not just with the achievement, but the manner of the turnaround. "He gone in there working with people he's never worked with," Keane told The Overlap . "Getting them all on side, getting his football points across.
"We go on about managers needing time, he didn't need time. He went into that group of players, got a grip of them, managed upwards with the board and fans and got them winning football matches. "For a manager to have gone to a club that was in disarray, that's top-level management.
" Ex-Arsenal, England and Celtic striker Ian Wright felt that if it wasn't for O'Neill, the title trophy would have had Hearts' name on it. "If Martin doesn't go in there they don't win that," he added. "Hearts win that.
That's the thing for Hearts, unfortunately he was the one who went in there [as manager]. "