49ers eye Tounekti, Martin O’Neill and Celtic support roll back the years

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The Celtic Star

·04 de novembro de 2025

49ers eye Tounekti, Martin O’Neill and Celtic support roll back the years

Sebastian Tounekti is reportedly catching the eye of Leeds United. Things must be going well at Celtic for Tunisian winger…

Sebastian Tounekti. Celtic v theRangers. Premier Sports Cup, semi final at Hampden. 2 November 2025. Photo AJ (The Celtic Star)

48 hours on from our Premier Sports Cup semi final victory over theRangers, the headlines are still in full flow, but not of our much on thoroughly deserved victory that secured us a place in yet another final, it’s more of the fallout created by the latest Ibrox club over their much publicised indignation created to disguise yet another disappointing display this season.

Vídeos OneFootball

Those headlines are continuing, but now forming a different narrative, this time in the shape of unsettling our players, with the mainstream media reporting via Tunisian outlet Maghreb Foot interest in one of our players, most notably Sebastian Tounekti, whom they say is attracting interest from the other side of the 49ers franchise, English Premier League side Leeds United.

Sebastian Tounekti. Celtic v theRangers. Premier Sports Cup, semi final at Hampden. 2 November 2025. Photo AJ (The Celtic Star)

Ironically, just recently the hacks had been trying to cast doubt on our recruitment process by digging up anyone they could to question the Tunisian’s ability, much like they did with Nicolas Kuhn a few years back when he had a slow start to his time at Celtic. Nicolas went on to prove he’s top class before Celtic sold him to Italian side Como in the summer for £17m, making a £14m profit in the German winger.

So lo and behold, they have all of a sudden changed their tune, and are once more linking our players to other clubs. Things must be improving at Celtic at the minute, with Martin O’Neill back in charge and Celtic on a roll with the angst of the early season slipping into the distance.

Martin O’Neill, Interim Manager of Celtic, reacts during the Premier Sports Cup Semi Final match between Celtic and theRangers at Hampden Park on November 02, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

It was amazing seeing Martin O’Neill jumping for joy at Hampden on Sunday as his Celtic team beat theRangers 3-1 to reach the final against St Mirren on 14 December. It was like rolling back the years and that was also the case with the Celtic support on Sunday.

With no Ultras to conduct the choir, the wider support was left to their own devices up against the blue half of Glasgow and despite the ticket ban, their ultras were in attendance – meaning theRangers penalised 500 of their non-ultra supporters – 500 who don’t let off flares and pyros to allow the very fans that caused the ban in the first place. Anyway that’s their business.

Celtic supporters at Hampden. Celtic v theRangers. Premier Sports Cup, semi final at Hampden. 2 November 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

My point is that the Celtic support at Hampden were MAGNIFICENT throughout the match, a second case of rolling back time to the era before the ultras came on the scene. That’s not to say I don”t value and appreciate the Green Brigade and Bhoys Celtic because I certainly do. But it does remind the rest of us that we have dreams and songs to sing and we can do that collective as a stadium at Celtic Park. And our Dear old Paradise will be all the better for it.

And a word on their songbook, absolutely disgraceful. Shameful, undiluted bigotry from a support with nothing better to sign about.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy

Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter, signed copies by Danny McGrain available from celticstarbooks.com

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

Danny McGrain signing copies of Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter. Photo: Celtic Star Books