PENALTY drama, bookings galore and Martin O'Neill on the touchline in a Celtic tracksuit. Sunday's derby had all the feel of a game from 2002, but in fact it was November 2025.
The Celtic legend returned to Hampden Park on Sunday in terrific fashion as the Hoops ran out worthy 3-1 winners over their Glasgow rivals after extra-time.
Flashback to last Wednesday, Celtic hosted Falkirk on a momentous occasion which saw the returning O’Neill and Shaun Maloney take to the dug-out once more for the Hoops when they turned on the style and hammered the Stirlingshire outfit by four goals to nil with goals of all shapes and sizes on offer.
RETURN OF THE LEGEND: Martin O'Neill was back in the Hampden Park dug-out for the first time in two decades
A real Celtic performance was the tag line, and all eyes and attention turned to Sunday's Glasgow derby which no doubt would offer some fireworks just two days before Halloween.
The game itself was not one of pure footballing quality, but a proper cup derby which – for the most part – Celtic controlled.
September 1 2024 was the last time the Scottish champions overcame Rangers without a penalty shoot-out and on that day Brendan Rodgers watched on as his then side thumped three goals past their opponents.
Fast-forward 13 months and the club had found itself in the biggest turmoil since the 2020/21 season.
The storyline was pre-written all week with Martin O'Neill's return and the narrative that the Derry man would be able to roll back the years was rather tongue in cheek after Rangers stumbled over the line at Easter Road on the Wednesday prior, to much plaudits and praise from the Scottish media.
For the first time in five derbies Celtic took the initiative as midfield dominance would be crucial for either side to achieve victory. Callum McGregor looked back to his old self, and accompanied by the young Arne Engels and Benjamin Nygren, showed a real determination to battle which had been sorely missing in the past 12 months from this Celtic side.
Nico Raskin looked to have done what he does best and assist Celtic to yet another goal at Hampden, but the calamitous defensive mix-up was dubiously ruled out by the VAR officials who determined that one of Daezen Maeda’s toenails had been offside.
PROSPECT: Kieran McKenna has called Celtic 'a massive job' 
Celtic piled on the pressure and before long had their opener when Johnny Kenny popped up with a Larsson-esque header from Engels' wickedly-whipped corner as the Irishman made it three goals in two games under O'Neill's stewardship.
The only real criticism Martin O'Neill will have laid at his team’s door would be the failure of Celtic to capitalise on a man advantage after Thelo Asgaard's reckless tackle saw the Norwegian head for an early shower on 38.
The Parkhead side huffed and puffed for a second, but came agonisingly close on a number of occasions through Nygren, Kenny, Engels and Callum Osmand, whose late spurned chance looked to have been one the Hoops would live to rue. In shock fashion Rangers were awarded a penalty after Anthony Ralston was penalised for a hand ball.
The fullback's attempt to block the ball was done so with his arms stuck to his chest but Nick Walsh's mind was made up and Tavernier dispatched the penalty to level the game with just eight minutes remaining.
A huge extra-time was on the cards and Celtic at times looked to have spurned their man advantage by allowing their rivals a foothold when they should have been out of sight in normal time.
But just moments after the restart, the captain had his moment as he ferociously thundered a superb effort straight at and through Jack Butland, taking the roof off Hampden Park's East End. Osmand had a couple of chances and was terrorising the Rangers backline but his lack of finishing touch looked to worry some of the Celtic faithful. On his fourth attempt, however, he got the goal he had been threatening.
Kieran Tierney's low driven cross saw Osmond react quickest to convert from close range and Celtic had a commanding lead with just ten minutes of the extra period to play.
Martin O'Neill rolled back the years once more and added yet another Rangers manager scalp to his collection, 20 years on from the last and returning back to the top of Celtic's all-time manager list for derby victories.
“I was 73 on Monday, and I'm 94 now,” he joked, before diving into the questions in the post match with Premier Sports. “It was end-to-end, and part of me enjoyed that, believe it or not.
"Sometimes, when I thought we would have a little break, Kasper (Schmeichel) gets hold of it and tosses it out quickly to somebody who's absolutely knackered. But no, it was a great effort, fantastic – I'm delighted obviously that we won.”
The Celtic boss was questioned about what he had done to inspire such a performance given the state of play a week prior when Celtic were thrashed 3-1 by Hearts and lay nine points adrift from the top. O'Neill replied: "That's very nice of you to say, young man, but I shall take no credit whatsoever. I came in here at the end of it. We have a couple of young players who probably don't really know what it's all about, and we've got some serial winners in there. That's really important.”
The ‘Martin O'Neill Experiment’ is what I am calling this strange period for Celtic. The Derry man has now overseen at least three and in some cases more generations of Celtic fans who can now say they watched O'Neill-ball.
For the meantime, it looks like Celtic will continue with the legendary man in the dug-out as they travel to Denmark to face Midtjylland on Thursday evening before a home game against Kilmarnock to close off this period prior to the November international break.
The two-week break should give those who, rightly or wrongly, are in charge of appointing the next permanent boss adequate time to get their man in.
OUTSIDER: Wilfried Nancy has been linked heavily to the Hoops job
Celtic must not be blinded by this taste of success for the Irishman, who himself has truly been hammering home the emphasis on how 'interim' and 'temporary' his second spell should be.
If the Celtic board, which are set to meet for the AGM in January, want to prove to supporters their worth, then it would be in their best interests to appoint a man to bring Celtic out of the dark ages and give him a chance with backing in January.
The two names which seem to be top of the list are Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna and an outsider in the form of French native Wilfried Nancy who is the current head coach of Columbus Crew in the States.
McKenna will be no stranger to most, having been a United youth coach and the first manager in Ipswich history to bring about back-to-back promotions to the Premier League, doing so in swashbuckling attacking fashion, managing 96 points in his promotion campaign in 2023/24.
He took the Tractor Boys back to the promised land in England, not only managing a club record points tally, but a goal tally of 92 goals which averaged at over two goals per game in one of Europe's toughest divisions.
However, McKenna's ill-fated season in the Premier League saw Ipswich return to the second tier after just one solitary season where they finished 19th, only bettering Russell Martin's wretched Southampton who managed just a single point above the all-time worst Premier League record held by Derby County.
Ipswich struggled to compete with England's elite and McKenna was robustly criticised for his failure to adapt. Nonetheless, he remains a young manager with pedigree and who plays attacking football. Now, Monsieur Nancy, state your case.
Before any Celtic fan turns their nose up at this ‘no-namer from America’, Wilfried Nancy is arguably the hottest property in North America as we speak, having led Columbus Crew to two trophies during his spell so far, those being the MLS Cup and League Cup.
The Frenchman is of course an outsider to this part of the world, and someone with a playing career more akin to a Johnny Addis rather than a Sergio Ramos, having plied his trade mostly in the lower tiers of France and Canada.
Nancy was voted the league's Coach of the Year just last season, and has been touted for some of Europe's best jobs in recent months. He’s someone who’s known for an aggressive, attacking style with a direct approach to possession. All Celtic fans have heard this one before.
This has an eerily similar vibe to a certain man from Down Under who Celtic took a risk on, and that is of course was one Ange Postecoglou.
