Nearly 20 years after his last dive into Glasgow’s unique sporting conflict, Martin O’Neill has a confession to make.
“I have to say that for the five years I was there I was obsessed with Rangers,” he confesses.
‘For example, if we were playing on a Sunday, we knew it was vital that Rangers dropped points away from home on Saturday.
‘The number of times on Saturday, after we finished our training and before we met at the hotel, I was driving and listening to the last 25 minutes of the game at Ibrox.
‘If there was still a tie at that point, I would say, ‘Please end it now, end it now.’
‘If you turned it off and turned it back on, you knew from the crowd that they had scored.
Martin O’Neill quickly got into the spirit of life in the Glasgow fishbowl.
O’Neill’s introduction to Old Firm contention came in a scarcely believable 6-2 win for Celtic.
O’Neill now admits he was “scared” of his cross-town Old Firm opponent, Dick Advocaat
“It was crazy. Honestly, I did it until my wife said to me: ‘Take care of yourself, you can’t influence a game there at Ibrox’. But that’s how it was.”
O’Neill was born in Kilrea, Northern Ireland, and grew up a Celtic supporter. He remembers watching the 1967 European Cup final in Lisbon on a black-and-white television while a student at St Columb’s College in Derry.
And yet, when it comes to the importance of Old Firm games in the eyes of fans, he now freely admits he arrived in Glasgow with something to learn about them.
“At the beginning of my tenure, I honestly thought that even if we lost all four games against Rangers and won the league, that would satisfy the Celtic fans,” he explains.
‘I was at a function at a social club in Perth and they said, “No, no, it’s not on the agenda.”
“I was roundly censured and never ventured that opinion again.”
His first experience of facing Rangers is enshrined in Parkhead folklore.
Chris Sutton celebrates scoring the goal he scored in the 2000 derby that shook the football world
On 27 August 2000, with a three-goal lead in eleven minutes, his team won a thrilling match 6-2 and caused a huge stir in Scottish football.
For a club that had been in perpetual crisis before his arrival, it was a pivotal moment.
His attempt to immediately lower expectations by insisting Rangers remained “the benchmark” was seen by many observers as public window dressing, but he maintains to this day that his words were sincere.
“I thought Rangers were the benchmark for the obvious reason that they were so far ahead of Celtic,” he says. “They finished 21 points clear last year and had some really good players.
‘I remember Dick (Advocaat) saying when he signed about five lads from the leagues here: “This is my league team; my European Cup team is somewhere else.”
“I thought, ‘Oh my God.’ At the time, that kind of scared me. It scared me a lot.”
Paul Lambert scores Celtic’s third goal, after just 11 minutes, in O’Neill’s first derby
These volatile and emotionally charged games can always change in an instant. O’Neill, who won 16 of the 27 derbies he played in, says the feeling he got after those precious victories was unlike any he had ever experienced in football.
“Walter Smith told me a long time ago that he felt relieved,” he continues. “I honestly think that euphoria and relief come over you at the same time in equal measure.
“I’m glad it’s over because the preparation has lasted almost all week. But if you get a result, then yes, absolutely, you’re in glory.”
A generation on, Celtic fans have grown accustomed to that lofty position. They have only known defeat once in their last 12 meetings and even then, that 3-0 defeat at Ibrox in 2023 came after they had already won the title under Ange Postecoglou as manager.
Clearly, Philippe Clement cannot be held entirely responsible for Rangers’ poor record in this fixture over the past decade, but their four-match winless run entering Sunday is inescapable.
O’Neill, who presided over seven consecutive derby victories at one point, believes winning and losing are difficult habits to break.
O’Neill enjoyed many dugout contests with McLeish, winning 17 of 28 encounters against him.
“Yes, a lot. Absolutely. And that has to be overcome,” he insists.
‘And what happens is that, whether you like it or not, those statistics are generated just before the game and in the week leading up to it.
“You haven’t, you haven’t. And you know it yourself, you have to change that.”
With home advantage and no Rangers fans on Sunday, Brendan Rodgers’ side are naturally favourites. The only unknown aspect in the build-up is the possibility of either side making last-minute additions to their squads before the transfer window closes. Would O’Neill advocate baptisms of fire?
“It’s very difficult,” he stressed. “I had players like Alan Thompson who was sent off (in a 2-0 defeat at Ibrox in November 2004), although (Peter) Lovenkrands went down very easily.
‘Some kids learned relatively quickly and others didn’t. But overall, I think once they played their first game, they realized its importance.
Philippe Clement has not won any of his four derbies to date, and the pressure is on to end that streak.
“If someone is going to debut on Sunday, I think those guys will have to be prepared in the 48 hours beforehand.”
Rangers could do with a couple of newcomers who are not up to the task. Over two spells, Rodgers has been the master of this encounter, with 14 wins and three draws from 18 games.
Even though there are still three league games left this season, an extension of that sequence this weekend would be ominous.
“It would be a big step for Celtic to win on Sunday, even at this early stage,” O’Neill said. “Psychologically, Rangers have a lot to overcome at the moment.
“What is it? A win in the last 12 or something? No matter how unlucky you may be, and you can point to the fact that they didn’t do badly in the Cup final and things like that here, but it’s another defeat.
“Start playing with your mind. There’s no doubt about it.
“We have to get over it. And if they lose on Sunday, it won’t be a disaster because it’s so early in the season, but it will be a psychological blow. Brendan’s record in this game is really good.”
Martin O’Neill and Graeme Souness were guests on William Hill’s unmissable SPFL preview show, The Warm-Up.
