Former Martin O'Neill ally questions where Celtic boss' motivation comes from amid big European 'downer'

Former Republic of Ireland international Kevin Doyle wonders where former boss Martin O’Neill gets his motivation from at Celtic, especially after their Champions League ‘downer’.

The former Wolves and QPR striker spent five years working under O’Neill with the Irish National Team and remains a strong admirer of his former mentor. However, at 74 years old, he questioned how long the Hoops icon can stay motivated to manager at the highest level.

O’Neill has already immersed himself in Celtic folklore over each of his spells at the club. Last season’s heroic double-winning feat mixed with his fairytale UEFA Cup run to the final in Seville in 2003 are two of his biggest of many Parkhead achievements. However, this season the Hoops have already stumbled in Europe, having lost out to LASK Linz in the Champions League play-off.

Doyle questions O’Neill motivation after Champions League ‘downer’

Speaking to OLBG, Doyle said: “Cetlic only won the league on the last day last year, and it would have been nice to see something different and see Hearts win it. But the league is not a foregone conclusion, as last year proved, even though already this season it looks like they're getting away. The whole Europe thing is just a big downer for them, for the whole club and the buzz of the place to be involved.

“It seems like more of the same again now for this season, and they needed the good distraction of some big European nights. But Martin O'Neill has done a fabulous job since he came in, and you'd imagine it'll be something similar this season as it doesn't look like anyone's going to challenge him. I don't think Hearts have started particularly well. O'Neill is older now, and whether he's as excited with them not being in the Champions League and whether he has the motivation for another season, how many Scottish leagues has he won at Celtic at this stage? Again, time will tell.”

O’Neill on St Johnstone triumph

The Hoops boss hasn’t lacked any fire in his belly on the domestic front as he recorded his sixth successive (13th including last season) Premiership win at McDiarmid Park against St Johnstone on Wednesday night. As new midfielder Mika Baur scored the only goal of the game to maintain Celtic’s 100% domestic record, after the match O’Neill breathed a sigh of relief.

He said: "A win is a win. I'm not sure what to make of it, really. We could've scored a number of goals, particularly after we scored. It's difficult to score goals, there's no question about it. We made it look impossible. Delighted to have won the game. Lots to still improve on. We've got to get players into the penalty box to score goals. If you're sitting outside, you'll not get it. Once we got the goal, which obviously gave us momentum, I felt we were kind of strong there for a good period of the game but never able to put the game beyond St Johnstone.”

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