TWELVE months ago Martin O'Neill returned to the Celtic dugout in a time of need – almost 20 years on from his last spell in the hot seat – and he cemented his status forevermore in the annals of Celtic history.
Coming back for a second time in that season to go one further and earn the club a domestic double when it looked to be a lost cause – with Celtic needing a perfect finish in the final six games of the season – that propelled him into the realms of icon status with the man certainly earning his very own statue if the club ever feels like renovating the front of house.
Football is fickle, and not many men get the opportunity to write the wrongs of the past or ride off into the sunset.
But back in May when Celtic ran out big winners in the Scottish Cup Final just a week after clinching a dramatic last day victory over Hearts and clinched a double, then that was the time to set sail and let the curtain draw on a successful career where he would be heralded as a hero for the rest of his days.
Instead, Celtic thought that Martin O’Neill’s final four months of the season would be more than fine to establish a fully fledged campaign with Europe and all the trimmings that comes with that.
Before I go any further, let’s not misremember last season.
It was not just Martin O’Neill that won a title for the Hoops. Daizen Maeda hit the most ridiculous purple patch of form I have ever witnessed, accompanied with a very fortunate (I don’t mean the decision) penalty in the dying seconds against Motherwell to keep the hopes of a title in the balance.
A lot of fortune and other external factors went the way of Celtic and in all honesty, a fluke is probably harsh, but Hearts' inability to win outside of Edinburgh from January on makes it difficult for Celtic's turnaround to be credited to one man.
This season Celtic have started the season pretty well domestically but have faced four big games and lost every single time with an emphasis being placed on the players' inability to understand where they should be positioned on the pitch.
LASK was a "lesson"; Rangers in the cup was another "lesson", Ferencvaros was yet again another "lesson" and Rangers once again was deemed to be "not the end of the world".
Last week I stated that this week was do-or-die for Martin O’Neill in his current tenure in the Celtic dugout, and although I do not think it is solely his doing, with the management team as a whole having to shoulder some of the responsibility.
But when your manager is constantly referring to losses as lessons, but nothing seems to have been learned, then do you look at the pupils (players) or do you look at the teacher (coaches) who is failing to get through to them?
These are not bad footballers, far from it. In fact some of these players clearly have ability and a ceiling that will be way and far beyond Celtic and that is fairly obvious.
Hogh, Hassan, Duran and Baur are four key signings, while the rest that accompanied them in the door have barely had a sniff.
As much as I love lambasting the board, and they are largely responsible for this mini-crisis at Parkhead, we do have a team that has enough quality to get past Rangers and Ferencvaros.
Coaching comes into question when senior figures seem shocked when they are asked if they feel that these games are lessons and when Cameron Carter-Vickers spoke after Sunday’s derby defeat to claim that the squad were a little ‘confused’, then fingers need pointing at where that stems from.
Martin O’Neill would have all my best wishes if he did walk away from this mess.
He’s in his late seventies. He does not need the added aggro and stress that comes with trying to reemerge with Celtic on the European scene, as we have already seen so far this season with the Derry man having a health scare after just two domestic matches.
Having witnessed the European game in the flesh there is no getting away from the fact that the Hoops look totally unprepared for the competition, in both on the field and tactically.
The lump it up to the big man approach with Hogh and Duran does not work because Celtic simply do not have the pace in the wide or central areas to accommodate this style of play.
Sunday’s game against Rangers was treated almost like an away game and Celtic just hoped to avoid defeat at all costs against a very bang average side who simply just wanted it more than the men in green and white.
The tactical approach was almost like something taken out of a lucky dip bag and starting with only two offensive players, whilst every second touch was launched into the sky. It was a result that was set to go only one way.
There is some breathing space now with the international break upon us. If Martin O'Neill walks, he'd go with my best wishes and would do so with his status still intact.
Celtic are still top and have seven games in Europa League to turn it around, but I fear that O’Neill’s presence might just stifle any hope of that.
Although, if he walked away the fear would be who replaces him in that dugout, as we all know it’s a recurring theme of the same three names to pick from.
