Martin O’Neill – “He’s amazing. Just an unbelievable character,” Luke McCowan

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The Celtic Star

·28 November 2025

Martin O’Neill – “He’s amazing. Just an unbelievable character,” Luke McCowan

That offside flag – and the fact that Luke McCowan didn’t know that he was actually onside – certainly played a factor last night in the Celtic midfielder not having that sitter or a miss on his mind for the rest of the match…

The big smile of relief was all you needed to know and it was best to leave him in blissful ignorance until after the final whistle where someone would have told him. By that time it didn’t matter a jot as Celtic had gone to De Kuip and won 3-1 against a decent Feyenoord side with McCowan playing a key role in the victory.

The former Dundee captain spoke afterwards about Martin O’Neill and his pre-match message and perhaps the incoming Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy – who already has his own song – might have his own ideas on McCowan’s best position in the team after watching his performance in Rotterdam last night.

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“His main message was that as long as we defended the set pieces really, really well then our qualities would take over, and I think that was the confidence he gave us. We knew we were going to be under pressure a lot. They are a side that can play good football, but he just said to us to go out and play our stuff and that we could win this game. And we managed it,” McCowan said, as reported by The Herald.

“He’s amazing. Just an unbelievable character. The way he talks in the team meetings and that, it’s just brilliant. He just says stuff that is at the top of his mind there and then, and it just breaks the ice within the whole room.

“He’s able to take the heat off a serious situation or a serious team talk, he’s able to make it fun and light but at the same time tells you that there are demands that come with playing for this club.

“That’s the main thing he always pushes, is those demands. Even right after the game there he came in and said, ‘Right lads, we’re in tomorrow, we’ve got a game on Sunday’. That was his first message,” Luke said.

Yang Hyun-Jun of Celtic celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with teammates during the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 League Phase MD5 match between Feyenoord and Celtic FC at De Kuip on November 27, 2025 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)

“You can tell he’s been a top manager and that is why he is so respected. That is what he is literally in here for, and his best quality is man managing people and getting the best out of the crowd that he’s got.

“It’s just been great seeing the sort of demands he places on everybody, knowing that when you play for Celtic this is what is needed. Then he’s just brought that humour with how he is, and it’s been great. It’s been class.

“It’s been like a time machine, and just how I thought it would be. I would have loved to have seen him when he was 20 years younger and probably had more energy and more hunger! He’s been great for the boys as it has shown, and as it will for Sunday too, and we just need to keep pushing and putting on performances,” Luke McCowan said.

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