Martin O’Neill Media Conference – Elvis, Sinatra, Wolfsburg, high praise for Motherwell

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The Celtic Star

·06 de janeiro de 2026

Martin O’Neill Media Conference – Elvis, Sinatra, Wolfsburg, high praise for Motherwell

We got more football chat from Martin O’Neill in just over 20 minutes this afternoon than we got in a month from our former manager Wilfried Nancy. Although he started with a joke that got no laughs and asked of it to be cut, things soon improved as Martin talked a great deal of common sense and in doing so gave us an insight into how he is going to steady the ship and take the club forward with an eye on the league title.

Celtic Manager Martin O’Neill speaks at a mainstream conference on Tuesday 6th January 2026 at Lennoxtown after returning to the club following the sacking of Wifred Nancy. Photo Andy Buchanan Shutterstock

Vídeos OneFootball

Motherwell were praised for their performance last week against Celtic with Martin describing them as possibly the best footballing side in the league.

There was sympathy for Wilfried Nancy with the lack of a striker – something he is well aware of himself – probably costing the Frenchman his job. ON many occasions that illusive second goal, for instance against Dundee United and theRangers, just wouldn’t come in dominant first half performances, the opponents took heart from that and came back after the break to win the matches.

A wee revelation too from Martin, revealing that it was Wolfsburg who had a bid for Daizen Maeda accepted in the summer only for Celtic to have to pull out of the deal due to Michael Nicholson’s failure to sign a striker.

Celtic Interim Assistant Manager Shaun Maloney & Celtic Interim Manager Martin O Neill in the directors box at Fir Park. Motherwell v Hibernian, Scottish Premiership, Football, Fir Park, Motherwell, Scotland, UK – 25 November 2025. Photo Stuart Wallace/Shutterstock

On the transfer window, as we have been telling you on The Celtic Star, Shaun Maloney has been working on recruitment at the club since stepping aside from his Interim Assistant Manager role to allow Wilfried Nancy and his staff to take the reins. That knowledge will be relied upon by Martin O’Neill who joked he’d take all the credit if the new signings do well but Maloney and Mark Fotheringham can take the blame for any that don’t wok out.

A vintage performance from a Celtic manager, the first since, well Martin O’Neill.

Shaun Maloney and Martin O’Neill. Celtic v theRangers. Premier Sports Cup, semi final at Hampden. 2 November 2025. Photo AJ (The Celtic Star)

Everything that was said at today’s Mainstream media conference at Lennoxtown can be read on the following pages. The Celtic Star and the rest of the fan media previously working with the club has been banned for asking some perfectly reasonable questions.

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Celtic v Falkirk 29.10.2025 Scottish Premiership. Martin O’Neill, Shaun Maloney, Gavin Strachan and Mark Fotheringham Photo Kenny Ramsay IMAGO

Q: Well, Martin, how does it feel to be back?

Martin O’Neill: “Gosh, I had a seance last night. And in this seance was Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. And both were really disappointed because I had made more comebacks than them! Please don’t put that out. It was a crap joke.

“I have to say, just every bit as strange as it was the first time. I think if you ever needed proof of anything, we’re in the results business, you have to win some football matches, you know? I’ve known that myself in the course of my career. It’s in one aspect really nice to be back. Other ones, I genuinely feel for a manager who has had little time to get his feet under the table, I suppose put his plans across and things like that. So, yeah, it happens. But I’m here now, so I’m going to see if I can do my best.”

Q: What was the decision like this time compared to the last time? You now know it’ll be longer, you know it’ll be until the end of the season. You also know what’s happened to this team in the last month or so. What was the decision like this time?

Martin O’Neill: “Well, that’s a good point. I felt as if I was like one of those supply teachers before. Now my time looks as if it’s going to be longer. But I will have the same, just exactly the same problems. If I don’t win the football matches, I come under pressure as well too. So, I’m aware of that. It’s just it seems as if it’s a bit longer. Supposedly, it’s to the end of the season. You have to kind of prove yourselves. You need to win some games as well.”

Q: I remember the last time you said the players probably need to be picked up a bit and confidence restored. I assume they are even lower now than they were then. Is that fair? How have you found them?

Martin O’Neill: “Every new manager steps in and says, the training was great today. It was fine. It was fine. It was nothing more than fine. But they’re in decent spirits. We had a bit of a meeting here about half past ten today. Honestly, I genuinely feel as if they’re in good heart. So, naturally disappointed with the recent results and the way things have gone. But I’m just hoping that they’re up for the battle ahead and I’m sure they will be.”

Q: Martin, you told us the last time when you came back that in a conversation with Dermot Desmond, he gave you 10–20 minutes to decide. Could you tell us the process by which you returned this time?

Martin O’Neill: “He was to the point. He said, ‘Would you come in?’ Again, I think that if you’re going to look at a long-term appointment, I think then, really, perhaps if I can give him this time to look at, to the end of the season, for him to look at someone and that be the man that, through thick and thin, is going to lead Celtic on in the next couple of years, that’s fine. I think it was just essentially that. Regardless of the results, you’re still a bit surprised. I don’t speak to Dermot that often in that sense, but if that’s what he wanted to do and that’s what the board wanted to do, then I was happy enough to go with it.”

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Q: Just to be clear, that was another conversation with Dermot?

Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, it didn’t last that long. But neither did the first conversation. He put the ultimatum to me pretty quickly. But I suppose having had, what was it, five or six weeks then and having gotten to know the players, or most of the players, then it was probably, in that sense, a little bit easier for me to say yes, only because I kind of got to know them a bit. I was coming into something completely different the time before, not really knowing some of the players, and with them not really knowing me or anything like that. So, again, it was fine. I suppose, deep down, I wanted to do it.”

Q: Was it just an instant decision for you, Martin, or was it just your thought, OK, the club is needing me, in a time of need, I need to go back?

Martin O’Neill: “If you put it like that there, essentially, that’s probably true.

Q: Is it definitely just until the end of the season, Martin? Is that the way you’re looking at it, or will you review it at the end of the season, see how you do, see how you feel?

Martin O’Neill: “I wonder whether I would have the capacity to go and carry on. And also, I’m 112 on my next birthday, so I think time is kind of running out for me. But I’d like to try and do well in it, and who knows what the board might think, but I would not be, and I’m serious about this, I wouldn’t be thinking any longer than the end of the season for me, regardless of what happens.”

Q: In terms of this season, then, the conversation you had with Dermot, did you talk about targets? What are you coming in to do?

Martin O’Neill: “No, he didn’t. Well, what am I coming to do? I suppose most managers come in to try and win some football games, but he didn’t say about winning a league. We didn’t have a long conversation, by the way. It didn’t last that long. My conversations with Dermot don’t last that long. But I would have assumed that he would, it is Celtic, you know, and you have to fight back after adversity, so I would have assumed that you would want to try and close the gap. (the)Rangers have closed right up alongside us, maybe they could go ahead tonight, and so we’ve got a battle on our hands.”

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Q: The team are obviously in a worse league position than when you left, once that cup final, but do you still feel that you can go on and win the league and have success in the Scottish Cup and still progress in Europe?

Martin O’Neill: “Oh, right, that’s an enormous task. Well, I think it’s going to be difficult. I think, no bones about it, there are fewer games to play now than before, and theRangers must have gained a psychological advantage there, and that’s over us, but we still have to catch Hearts, and the way that Motherwell played the other evening against Celtic, they might well be the best footballing side in the league.”

Q: Martin, was it difficult, you were watching on from the sidelines when the team was going through a run under Wilfried, given the way you’d taken them?

Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, it was disappointing, but some of the matches that they played in, had that, you know, for instance, had that second goal had gone in, I know it’s ifs, buts and maybes, and you keep those out of the equation, and eventually the results are what it’s all about, but there were moments in matches there, if they’d been able to score that second goal, you never know that things could have been different.

“You just need a little bit of luck, and somewhere along the way, and I look back at my time, I know it’s a fairly lengthy time ago, but when I was at Leicester, I couldn’t win a game to save my life, and a crowd, you know, very restive, very restive indeed, that’s putting it mildly. I got a bit of luck away from Filbert Street, where I won two games in about three or four days, and eased the pressure, and I’d just come into the football club as well. I understand these things, so we got a bit of luck, we finally got promotion, it was great, things went really brilliantly for me after that, but it was touch and go.”

Q: Martin, Paul Tisdale’s also leaving the club, how does the January transfer window work now, what role do you have within that? Is it going to be business as usual, because I’m sure we spoke before about this team needing players in this window?

Martin O’Neill: “Well, we definitely need to supplement the squad, absolutely no question about that, and I think that Shaun Maloney, for instance, has been working in the background in certain things, I think he would get to know some players. It’s up to me as quickly as possible, because eventually, eventually, I would like to be sitting here in front of you and saying, listen, all these players are my choice, and that’s what I’d really like to do, so I don’t have a great deal of time.”

“When I was at Celtic before, I would be able to run the rule over players, players that I knew, players that I maybe didn’t know, like Joos Valgaeren, for instance, way back years ago, but you take the chance on somebody who’s an international player. I will rely on Shaun and Mark (Fotheringham) and Stephen (McManus), their opinion on players, but eventually it’ll be down to me as much as anything else. Or if they don’t do well, I’ll blame Shaun! And if they do brilliantly, then I shall take all the credit!”

Q: Are you aware of anything imminent, any that were in motion before you came in?

Martin O’Neill: “You do know that the young lad has joined us from Bournemouth for a start, and I obviously didn’t know anything about that, and so that’s really up to him now to gather a bit of momentum himself. He hasn’t played very, very much football, but from here on in, yeah, whatever we’re doing, it’s just a matter of, well, again, I’ll reiterate, we need the players in, and as quickly as possible.”

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Q: Martin, you mentioned there that it’s going to be a battle in the league. Do you now, with (the)Rangers drawing level with Celtic, Hearts got a six-point lead, do you now generally see it as a three-way fight for the title?

Martin O’Neill: “Well, naturally I do. I don’t know what sort of, what shall I say, the strength of the squad of, for instance, Motherwell or Hibs or something. I really don’t know that there. Certainly, I watched the game against Motherwell, and they were brilliant against us, really brilliant in the game, so I don’t know that. (the)Rangers are obviously big enemies, and Hearts have got, they’ve had momentum all season. They’ve been able to win some big games, so, yeah, it is a difficult task for us, but we’ve got 18 games still left.”

Q: In terms of numbers coming in, Martin, do you expect it to be a busy one?

Martin O’Neill: “I would be hoping for it, but if the board were to listen to me, then we would have about 56 players, so I will try and narrow it down. I think you’d be aware, of what positions we need to strengthen in, and that’s what we’re going to try and do. It’s a difficult window, and in terms of buying players, things like this here, that’ll be difficult, but we do need, we do need to supplement the squad.”

Q: Obviously Daizen Maeda was quite close to leaving in the summer, do you anticipate him still being here?

Martin O’Neill: “That’s a good point. I just came in last night, I don’t know, I don’t know what has happened since, and I don’t know, so there’s little point in me saying, oh, he’s really happy, he wants to stay here, and then tomorrow morning he’s gone, or something like that. I don’t know, I’ll have a word, or find out what he’s thinking, even if it’s through his agent, or whatever the case may be. I think there was a bit of disappointment with him, because the move didn’t go through, I think it was to Wolfsburg, was it, I think, last, in August time? Am I telling you something that you didn’t know?

“Possibly? Okay. That never happened! It wasn’t Wolfsburg at all, no, absolutely not, I think it was Augsburg, no? Okay. Cut that! Okay, I think he was, I think it was a bit of disappointment at the time, but he’s got going, he’s got going again. If you’re asking me, I’d love him to stay, it’d be actually really important for him to stay, if that’s the case, but I genuinely don’t know what is happening there, by our next press conference, I’ll be able to tell you.”

Q: Martin, there’s an argument that perhaps the results didn’t come under Wilfried because he tried to implement change too soon, the players didn’t seem comfortable with it, for you is it a point of getting back to basics in terms of a formation, a formula that you think works?

Martin O’Neill: “Well, I hope I didn’t try and change too many things that Brendan had in place. There’s a couple of things that I, that as all managers will have a way of playing, of what they think is the best way, the best way that would suit the squad there. So I don’t think that we tried to change too many things. I’m pretty aware that at the time, it takes time for players to adjust, if it is a change of formation or whatever the case may be. There were times during the course tha we actually did change formation and so as long as the players, one, are happy with it and two, understand it, that’s absolutely fine.

I don’t expect to make too many changes, probably want to maybe go back to what I thought maybe worked for us at the time, if indeed it didn’t work before. Again, it’s players, we can get bogged down with the systems and stuff like this here, but players can’t make things work, so whatever system we do, decide to go, just let’s not have any excuses, let’s go and try and win.”

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

Q: Given the success you’ve had here, Martin, your first spell, and also when you came back recently, how much is this going to give the squad, the players, the club, a boost by you returning?

Martin O’Neill: “I’ve got to tell you, I’m very anxious about it, as I’ve always been, but I’m anxious, maybe in a sort of excited way, but yeah, I’m anxious, but that’s me, I’ve got dreadful insecurity problems!”

Q: You said the last time it was a fear of failure that you were worried about, is that the same thing?

Martin O’Neill: “Same thing again, yeah, absolutely. I’d like to try and win if I can, and you’ve got 18 games, or hopefully 18 games, yeah, so I would try and win.”

Q: Martin, what’s your message to the fans? Obviously before you left, there was the AGM, a lot of protests, things have possibly got worse since then, what would be your message to the fans?

Martin O’Neill: “Well, after that AGM, and I know I joked with you and said I won’t be back for the next AGM, that would be an absolute certainty anyway! I’m never sure that messages from me to the fans mean a great deal, it doesn’t really. I would want to win, naturally, very selfishly I’d like to win for me. I’d like to win for the players, and I’d obviously like to win for the football club, and the football club is the fans.”

Q: Just one on the transfers again, you said Shaun’s doing some work in the background, so just to be clear, will there be a case of Shaun and the team identifying players and then presenting them to you?

Martin O’Neill: “I think there’s a part of that, yes, yes. I may have to rely on Shaun’s judgement, and Fozzy’s judgement on certain things, yeah, I might have to, and that would be a problem! No, that might be the case, but I will certainly have a look at the players before they come in, in some capacity, but not just shots of them in, like proper matches, even if you go through the 90 games, but that’s my job, so I’ll have to try and do that, but more quickly than before.”

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

Q: Are you confident, given that you’re coming in until the end of the season, that you’ll get the support when it comes to expenditure on players in this window, which is notoriously difficult?

Martin O’Neill: “If you could sign all the players that you’d want to have, it would be great, and it doesn’t work like that. I generally work within the parameters of the club, but I’d be hoping that now we’re in a bit of difficulty, we have to fight back, and I think that, as I said to you, I’m saying to you, and I would say the same to the board, and I think we’re all aware, and so are the fans, that we do, the squad needs strengthening, if we can do.

“Now, we might bring in some players that may not be that much better, if that’s the case, but that’s up to us. The nice thing about it, if we can get a few people in, I think the squad will benefit from it, I think that’s the main thing. If you sign in an extra, let’s say an extra midfield player or something, it’s nice to have a bit of competition for places, if that’s the case.

“It’s no excuse, but we’ve had the injuries, the long-term injuries to the players, and I don’t see, I was quickly speaking to the medical staff, I don’t see an imminent return for any of the long-term boys now, for a while. Alistair Johnston thinks he might be back, maybe in March time, which is good news, if that’s the case, March is a long time, a long time for me, so I don’t have that time.”

Q: How did your family react when you said you were coming back again?

Martin O’Neill: “Exactly the same, exactly the same, honestly, my two daughters really, really delighted, ‘Go for it dad!’ My wife said, ‘You’ll mess it, you’ll mess it up!’ But she said that the last time, and she’s claiming she didn’t, but she did, so it’s the same thing, but I think there’s a real, genuine excitement about this, so go for it.”

Q: Did you have any conversations with Wilfried Nancy, either during his tenure, or when he left?

Martin O’Neill: “I had 15 or 20 minutes with him, on the day after the Dundee game, so a Thursday up here, and it was fine. I thought he was a really fine man. I was not giving him advice, I was giving my opinion, if he was asking for it, and the conversation was fine. It wasn’t, please, it was not that Wilfried wanted to cut it short at all, in fact, if anything, it was probably me, in that aspect. No, it was really fine, he’s got his own ideas. I think that, obviously being naturally disappointed, I think he will come again, and be a really good coach, or manager, whatever you call it these days. My conversation was not that long, but yeah, I just, I obviously wish him all the best at the time, and still do, so I have not spoken to him since, but I haven’t fallen out with him.”

Q: The players, Martin, really had a connection with you, when you came back for that short spell, and you’d be hoping that that just, continues for this next one, for however long it is?

Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, we know, it’s winning, it’s winning, and that connection is fine, when you’re winning. When it’s not winning football matches, that becomes a problem. It’s the same in any dressing room at all, so the players, are the most important people, because they do the winning of football matches. Show them a little bit of guidance, if that’s the case, or my approach now, to the players, is a different approach I would have had, when I started out in management. I’m still reasonably aggressive, you know, I’d be far more aggressive, in earlier days, you know, so, maybe there was less to be aggressive about, because we were winning. I’m guided by them, they have to do the winning, you know, so it’s up to them, and obviously, up to me, as the manager.”

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