Martin O’Neill hasn’t just changed Celtic’s fortunes, he’s revitalised our players

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The Celtic Star

·1 December 2025

Martin O’Neill hasn’t just changed Celtic’s fortunes, he’s revitalised our players

Martin O’Neill hasn’t just changed Celtic’s fortunes, he’s revitalised our players. Let’s hope the new incoming manager Wilfried Nancy can keep it up and drive Celtic to glory…

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

Martin O’Neill has been nothing short of fantastic since answering the call in our hour of need, in the wake of Brendan Rodgers unexpected departure the day after the defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle at the end of October.

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Since coming to Celtic’s aid in our hour of need, Martin has steadied the ship, leading the side to six wins in his seven games in charge, cutting the gap on leaders Hearts, reaching a cup final by knocking out theRangers, widening the gap on the latest Ibrox club and keeping our Europa League hopes well and truly alive in the process with our first away win in a proper European match for four seasons.

One of the main reasons for that success is the revitalisation of key players, which is a testament to Martin’s managerial ability.

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

Key figures such as Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate, Arne Engels, Daizen Maeda and Auston Trusty have been instrumental in our success, and it was vital that they stepped up especially with the long term injuries sustained by fellow key teammates.

Others like Yang and Luke McCowan have come in from the sidelines to play prominent roles as indeed has Colby Donovan. They all stepped up and more, as they produced the form that we know they are well capable of, as they proved that they posses not just undoubted natural ability, but mental ability also.

Darlington Nagbe #6 of the Columbus Crew embraces Wilfried Nancy head coach of the Columbus Crew after the 2025 MLS Cup Playoff match against FC Cincinnati at Lower.com Field on November 02, 2025 in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus Crew won 4-0. (Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images)

Let’s hope the new manager can keep the momentum going, and more importantly keep getting the best out of the current squad of players. And Nancy has only a few weeks to wait until the January transfer window opens and he can begin the process of filling the gaps in the squad left by two awful transfer windows in 2025.

Both Daizen Maeda and Yang were expected to leave in the summer, with both having agreed moves only for Celtic to frustrate them both by putting the brakes on their proposed moves. Daizen is of course Celtic’s current player of the year from last season while in contract Yang was a fringe player who appeared erratic in matches and without much confidence as the pressure mounted.

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

Both may want to make their exits in January of their deals are still on the table. Before Martin O’Neill worked his magic, few would have been too bothered at Yang’s exit with Birmingham set to pay £3m for him but instead opted for a move for Paddy Roberts ahead of the summer window closing.

Daizen was played out of position earlier in the season due to the failings of the Celtic Board and was clearly not at his best there. Martin O’Neill, after having a look at Johnny Kenny, has reverted to playing Daizen through the middle and he’s getting back to his best now and is set to have a big December in a Celtic shirt.

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

With the World Cup looming on the horizon at the end of the season both players may look to see out the season at Celtic before playing on the biggest stage of all and making the best move possible thereafter. Significantly there has been no talk of a contract extension for Daizen so a summer exit is probably the best we can hope for.

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