When Martin O’Neill took a seat and cleared his throat in the Hampden media centre a couple of weeks ago, it was plain for all to see that he had caught the bug again.
The bug of being manager of Celtic. The bug of winning trophies. The bug of being totally immersed in the madhouse that is Scottish football.
O’Neill spent the final few weeks of the season relentlessly fielding questions about his future and whether or not he would continue as manager beyond the summer.
Having completed a successful rescue mission, not once but twice, O’Neill ended up winning an improbable league and cup double with one of the poorest teams in Celtic’s history.
Asked whether he felt he had earned the right to stay on and whether he expected Dermot Desmond to ask the question, O’Neill replied: ‘Yeah, I would expect him to talk to me.
‘I wouldn’t expect him to say: “Look, there’s a five-year deal”. If he does, that takes me up to 93!
Martin O’Neill hauled Celtic back into the title race before getting over the line on the last day
‘I think that our football club, we have to really look at it and see the challenges are coming, which is great.
‘I genuinely think it’s great that Hearts are coming with a charge, Rangers will get stronger at the end of the day. It’s a call for us to have a look at the situation.
‘I don’t think I will ever lose the passion or hunger for the game. When they are putting a lid on top of me, I will jump up and say: “What’s the score?”
‘If you were asking me if I could start again next week, I couldn’t do it. But the season doesn’t start next week.
‘I would be thinking, though, that for the football club to go properly, then they would probably be looking at someone younger.’
What O’Neill said that day captured it all in a nutshell. He knew he had earned another crack at it. The job was his if he wanted it.
The flirtation with Robbie Keane, the younger and more modern coach referenced by O’Neill, was a fallback if the old warhorse felt enough was enough.
But in discussions with Desmond, the club’s major shareholder, this week, O’Neill made it clear he wanted to go again.
With O’Neill and Keane, Celtic had a choice on their hands. They could have taken a gamble on Keane. That would have been the more progressive, long-term appointment.
But it was complicated. There was baggage from his time in charge of Maccabi Tel-Aviv in Israel, with fans protesting against his proposed arrival at the club.
An unconventional journey in coaching and management thrust him into a spotlight created by modern football’s awkward relationship with geopolitics.
Keane’s decision to work in Israel will forever be viewed as an indelible stain on his record by some Celtic fans.
Celtic supporters made their feelings known on the potential appointment of Robbie Keane
For the avoidance of doubt, Celtic fans are absolutely within their rights to hold a view on what’s happened in the Middle East.
But it shouldn’t have been dressed up as football. It’s politics. And it certainly should not have been used as a stick with which to beat Keane.
It is worth nothing that Keane took the job in Israel several months before the conflict escalated to a new level.
It was in October 2023 that the Hamas attacks on Israel sparked the war in Gaza. In the eyes of some Celtic supporters, his crime was that he did not resign immediately rather than the following summer.
His credentials were solid enough, having won league titles with Maccabi and also with Ferencvaros in Hungary. He also led both clubs on good runs to the knockout stages in Europe.
He ticked a lot of the boxes in terms of what Celtic should have been looking for. His appointment would have been contentious and compelling.
Yet, in the end, it wasn’t to be. Desmond played it safe and stuck with O’Neill. It is tempting to wonder whether all the noise and fan protests around Keane had any bearing on the decision.
That feels unlikely. If these past 12 months have taught us anything, it’s that the Celtic hierarchy will do their own thing irrespective of how it’s viewed among supporters.
It is O’Neill who now finds himself back at the coalface. The 74-year-old veteran has agreed terms on a one-year deal, with the option of a further year.
O’Neill could easily have opted for the sanctuary of a talkSPORT studio, resuming his work as a pundit alongside his old sparring partners Jim White and Simon Jordan.
He could have sailed off into the sunset after winning the double and enjoyed a comfortable life in retirement.
But, speaking to him over those final few weeks of a chaotic season, it became clear that a fire still rages within. A competitive spirit that will never fade. Despite the fact he is into his mid-70s, O’Neill clearly feels like there is plenty left in the tank.
O’Neill completed a fairytale season by lifting the Scottish Cup at Hampden last month
What happens now will be the intriguing part. Given the success he enjoyed in Europe during his first spell at the club, the prospect of Champions League football would have been a big pull.
Those famous nights against the Juventus, Ajax, Liverpool, Stuttgart, Barcelona and the likes still burn brightly in the minds of Celtic supporters. O’Neill’s too, you suspect.
But, right now, Celtic are a long way off being able to compete properly at that level. Furnishing him with several new players of first-team ability is a necessity.
He won’t be afforded a blank cheque book to sign the likes of Chris Sutton, John Hartson and Neil Lennon in the same way he was first time around. But he will demand quality.
The Europa League exit to Stuttgart last season will have told him all he needs to know about the current squad’s capabilities in Europe.
Winning the league title and Scottish Cup was the work of alchemy, given the mess he inherited. O’Neill will want to perform similar miracles in Europe. It’s just how he’s wired.
Restoring Celtic back to credibility in Europe once again would be a major achievement given how far they have fallen. With O’Neill in charge, few would bet against it.
