Chris Sutton – Idiotic to worry about Martin O’Neill damaging legacy

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The Celtic Star

·2 December 2025

Chris Sutton – Idiotic to worry about Martin O’Neill damaging legacy

Chris Sutton started by branding himself as an idiot for worrying that Martin O’Neill might damage his Celtic legacy by returning to the club 20 years after he left to take up the interim managerial role following the departure of Brendan Rodgers the day after the 3-1 defeat at Tynecastle against Hearts.

Celtic interim manager Martin O’Neill during the Premier League match between Celtic and Kilmarnock at Celtic Park on November 09, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

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The legendary Celtic boss didn’t worry about that for one single second and instead arrived at Celtic achieving the following:

Reached the Premier Sports Cup Final by defeating theRangers 3-1 in the semi-final, delivering Celtic’s first win over the latest Ibrox club in 2025.
Won all four Scottish Premiership matches played with one to go tomorrow night against Dundee at Celtic Park
Reduced Hearts lead dramatically so that Celtic could hit the top of the table this weekend – with a game in hand.
Won an away match in Rotterdam against Feyenoord in the Europa League, Celtic’s first away win outside of qualifiers in European football.
Got key players like Reo Hatate, Arne Engels and Daizen Maeda all returning to form.

Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney celebrate Celtic’s opening goal during the Premier League match between Celtic and Falkirk at Celtic Park on October 29, 2025 (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Sutton, speaking on the Warm Up podcast alongside Steven Naismith and Kris Boyd, admits that he gets annoyed that Martin O’Neill’s tactical contribution to his success is often under-estimated, perhaps as a result of O’Neill always going out of his way to talk up his backroom staff.

There is no doubt that Shaun Maloney in particular but also Mark Fotheringham, Stephen McManus and Gavin Strachan have all stepped up to deliver for Celtic in a challenging period for the club.

“In terms of him getting everybody at the club pulling in the same direction and galvanising, my view, people say about Martin, he’s not a tactician, I always get a little bit annoyed about that,” Sutton said.

Mark Fotheringham at Easter Road, Sunday 30 November 2025. Hibs v Celtic, Scottish Premiership. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

“Because I think that’s disingenuous. I think that is unfair. Because if you look at Martin and his managerial career, and the way that he built himself up and enhanced his reputation.

“Starting, I think he was Grantham, and then he went to Wickham and got them into the Football League. And that’s not an easy thing to do.

“The job which he did at Leicester City, he had a difficult start at Leicester City, he’ll tell you himself, I don’t think he won at any of his first eight or 10 games. You know, who knows what would have happened in this day and age had he had that start nowadays?

Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney at Easter Road. Sunday 30 November 2025. Hibs v Celtic, Scottish Premiership. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

“He may have ended up not carrying on, but Leicester City were glad that he that he did and he was highly sought-after from big clubs and he chose Celtic,” Sutton observed.

Well worth a listen, this podcast…

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Celtic in the Eighties and Willie Fernie – Putting on the Style both by David Potter. Photo The Celtic Star