Former Celtic boss knows why Martin O'Neill stayed after 'moment of doubt' as reflection period assessed

Celtic icon Gordon Strachan reckons current boss Martin O’Neill chose to stay at the club because he realised the magnitude of his ‘opportunity’.

After three successive defeats before the international break, the veteran Northern Irishman admitted he was going to take time to reflect on his position during the three-week layoff. However, he has since outlined that he decided fairly early on he was going to stay. Celtic defeated Motherwell 2-0 last weekend in O’Neill’s first game back in the dugout.

A 4-1 loss in Benfica has dampened the mood again slightly at Parkhead, but still top of the Scottish Premiership table, Strachan believes they’ve still got a point to prove. The Scotsman knows the pressures of being in the Celtic Park hot-seat well, having taken over from O’Neill in 2005 after his first spell.

Why does Strachan believe O’Neill chose to stay?

Strachan told BoyleSports: “Every manager has a moment of doubt after a painful defeat where they question if they want to continue. But after stepping back and reflecting, Martin O’Neill realised how good the opportunity at Celtic is. People scrutinise body language, but managers process defeat in different ways. It was good to see Celtic respond with a strong performance after the break (against Motherwell). You can tell when a manager owns their interviews, it was good to see Celtic play so well, Martin is the right man for the job.”

The three defeats leading up to O’Neill’s reflection period were all disappointing in their own right. The 3-0 League Cup defeat at Ibrox against Rangers meant they’d already lost on a potential trophy. A home 3-1 defeat Europa League defeat to Ferencvaros in Europe gave them a mountain to climb in the league phase, while the Premiership loss at home to Rangers three days later meant the gap was closed at the top of the table.

Why did O’Neill say his period of reflection was short-lived?

A visibly disappointed O’Neill said after the third defeat that he was taking time to look back, however on his return to the dugout earlier this month, he claimed his original comment might’ve been made when emotions were running high. He said: "Well I am. I'm extremely prepared for it. Yes, we had a difficult week, which can happen. You can lose to your arch-rivals, you can lose a European game. It's certainly not the end of the world, as what it seems to be described as.

"But no, ready to go. Yes, I did think I would take a little bit of time, and it didn't take me that much time to think about it. I want to lead the club. I want to try and win the league, which is what we set out to do. And, yeah, just as determined now as ever before. It was a time of reflection for a moment or two and I think, yeah, some things that you think about. But overall, yeah, I'm back, I'm raring to go and the team's ready."

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