Celtic Fans Will Be Saying – Ex-Striker Makes Martin O’Neill Prediction | OneFootball

Celtic Fans Will Be Saying – Ex-Striker Makes Martin O’Neill Prediction | OneFootball

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·1 November 2025

Celtic Fans Will Be Saying – Ex-Striker Makes Martin O’Neill Prediction

Article image:Celtic Fans Will Be Saying – Ex-Striker Makes Martin O’Neill Prediction

Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

Gordon Dalziel thinks how Celtic fans feel about Martin O’Neill being in charge will be determined by whether the Bhoys beat Rangers in the Scottish League Cup semi-final on Sunday.


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O’Neill was appointed interim manager of Celtic after Brendan Rodgers resigned and was criticised by the club’s majority owner Dermot Desmond.

He arrived with Shaun Maloney as his assistant and a Celtic legend claimed that had only Maloney taken over, the fans would have been unhappy.

O’Neill is in charge as an interim manager with it being unclear just how long he will stay for and former striker Dalziel thinks results will dictate.

Celtic are due to face Rangers on Sunday in the Scottish League Cup semi-final and Dalziel feels that will have a huge say on how the club’s fans feel.

Article image:Celtic Fans Will Be Saying – Ex-Striker Makes Martin O’Neill Prediction

Dalziel said on Clyde 1’s Superscoreboard (1:48:00): “A lot of this will depend on the next couple of weeks, as in Sunday.

“Sunday could be a game changer.

“You know all of a sudden, you lose that to Rangers, Celtic fans might be thinking, ‘we need a manager in as quick as possible’.

“But I think if this keeps going and he gets a result at the weekend, then I think by Monday people will all be saying, ‘look, give him it to probably the end of the season’.”

Rangers too have appointed a new manager in Danny Rohl, with his appointment coming exactly a week before that of O’Neill’s, after the Gers were turned down by Steven Gerrard and Kevin Muscat.

Article image:Celtic Fans Will Be Saying – Ex-Striker Makes Martin O’Neill Prediction

When O’Neill was first appointed by Celtic in 2000, Rohl was still to enter his teenage years.

O’Neill has the highest win ratio of all Celtic managers at 75.5 per cent and achieved a pair of remarkable scorelines in his first season against Rangers as he dished out a 6-2 thrashing at home, but suffered a 5-1 reverse at Ibrox.

In 2002, at Hampden Park, Rangers prevailed twice, as Celtic lost out in both the Scottish League Cup semi-final and Scottish Cup final.

O’Neill will want to show that he is sharp of mind and outwit Rohl, less than half his age, and give the fans cause to rejoice, with more than a spot in the Scottish League Cup final at stake.

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