Missing McDiarmid Park to Meet Martin O’Neill

The second book given to Martin on Sunday is our most recent publication, Majic, Stan and The King of Japan, released just a few weeks ago and covering Gordon Strachan’s remarkable double-trophy-winning first season as Celtic manager, when of course he succeeded…Martin O’Neill. I had the pleasure of discussing the book with Martin a few months ago and he was kind enough to give me a couple of quotations which we then used on the cover, together with a photo of us both which I treasure. The opening chapter of the book covers Martin’s final days as Celtic manager, and here’s a snippet as a bit of a taster if you fancy ordering a copy for Christmas…

AN EXTRACT FROM MAJIC, STAN AND THE KING OF JAPAN…

The fallout from Black Sunday, when the League title was surrendered at Fir Park, Motherwell, to two last-gasp Scott McDonald goals, was still being painfully endured and analysed by those with Celtic in their hearts, when the worst-kept secret in Scottish football was confirmed in the mainstream media. It was Wednesday, 25 May 2005. Lisbon Day, as if the knife required twisting. After five years at the helm, Martin O’Neill would be leaving Celtic after Saturday’s Scottish Cup Final against Dundee United.

The news was neither unexpected nor welcome. Martin’s wife, Geraldine, had been battling a serious illness, lymphoma, for some time and he had decided to take some time away from football to focus on supporting her and the rest of his family through this most worrying of periods.

For once, the normally-expansive O’Neill kept his statement brief and succinct.

“I am leaving Celtic purely for personal reasons and I am extremely sorry to be departing in such circumstances. We have had discussions for some weeks, as we awaited certain biopsy results. We have had suspicions in recent weeks, and that has taken it to a different level but she [Geraldine] wouldn’t like me to go into too much detail. We had some good news at the back end of last year, but she is not so clever at the moment.

“I don’t have a monopoly of bad news, but it is the correct thing to do. She has stood with me for quite some time, so this is the right thing. I would like to thank sincerely Dermot Desmond and the Celtic board for giving me the opportunity to manage this fantastic club five years ago. It has been an honour and a privilege to have served the club and its supporters during that time and [to have]been a part of Celtic’s history.”

Celtic chairman Brian Quinn spoke of his “great disappointment, reluctance and regret, whilst fully respecting the reasons behind the decision,” whilst Peter Lawwell commented on the “consummate professionalism” of O’Neill and his backroom team, the Parkhead chief executive then adding;

“Martin has taken Celtic on a remarkably thrilling and successful adventure over the past five years and, as well as achieving tremendous domestic success, has helped put Celtic back where it belongs – on the European stage.”

It was difficult to disagree with those sentiments, as somewhat bucking the normal trend, a manager left his post at Celtic Park without acrimony. Whilst the previous week had ripped the heart and soul out of the Celtic family, for the most part it had been a very special journey with the man from Derry.

Three days later, the Martin O’Neill era drew to a close with an uninspiring 1-0 victory over Dundee United at Hampden, courtesy of an early Alan Thompson free-kick. The goal was in keeping with the rest of the game, untidy and instantly forgettable, the ball eventually going into the net off defender Gary Kenneth, after Bobo Balde had either dummied or missed Thompson’s original cross, depending on your view of the big Guinean.

Late on in the match, there was another less-than-memorable Cup Final moment, as we had to share the indignity of Chris Sutton as he slipped before shanking his spot-kick high over Tony Bullock’s crossbar. Twelve years down the line, a cruel twist of fate would see a big Australian midfielder replicate Sutton’s feat at the same end of Hampden, triggering the end of another managerial regime at Parkhead.

Future Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald then blasted a long-range shot off the Celtic crossbar to be denied his own ‘Roy of the Rovers’ moment, the last action of the 2005 Scottish Cup final. Seconds later, referee John Rowbotham signalled the end of the match and Martin’s tenure at Parkhead.

Archibald would later succeed winning Celtic captain Jackie McNamara in the Firhill dugout, having worked under him there as a player-coach until January 2013, when Jackie resigned to take up the manager’s job at, rather ironically, Tannadice. Gordon Chisholm’s beaten United side that day was skippered by current Kilmarnock boss Derek McInnes and included two future Celts, Mark Wilson and Barry Robson.

Twelve months earlier, McNamara had deputised for injured Hoops skipper Paul Lambert, leading the dark-green-clad Celts out at Hampden for the 2004 Scottish Cup Final for the great Henrik Larsson’s last competitive match for the club. Jackie then shared the winners’ podium with the two-goal Swede, as Martin O’Neill’s second League and Cup Double was secured. Today, poignantly, by now appointed Celtic captain as Lambert turned his sights on a coaching career post-Parkhead, Jackie stood aside to allow O’Neill, John Robertson and Steve Walford the opportunity to display the famous old trophy to the massed ranks of the Celtic support.

All four men would enjoy a last hurrah at Celtic Park just 24-hours later, as the Republic of Ireland provided the opposition in McNamara’s testimonial game, the only goal of that match scored in stoppage-time by another future Celt, Robbie Keane. I guess only Jackie himself will know if his own farewell was expected. I remember being surprised when it was announced that he had joined Glenn Hoddle’s Wolverhampton Wanderers the following week.

In 50 years of attending Scottish Cup Finals, I cannot recall an atmosphere such as this one after a win. When Celtic lift a trophy, without exception, I find myself shedding a tear as I think about my dad and how much I wish he was sitting beside me to share this moment. To make it even more special. To see him look into the eyes of my kids and think, “I started this.” Whilst that dagger pierced, as it always did, this was a different kind of sadness.

For those of us of a certain vintage, that ‘Celtic sixth-sense’ was already kicking in. As we watched Martin and his backroom staff take a final, emotional walk around the Hampden track, the Irishman’s hand in the air in acknowledgement of the outpouring of love and support, there was that horrible, ominous feeling that something very special was ending.

The era of Larsson, Sutton and Hartson taking on Europe’s finest defenders, of 6-2 against ‘the benchmark’ on the day the world changed, of the genius Lubo scoring incredible goals with both feet, and of marching with O’Neill into the Champions League then all the way to Seville, my dad, the veteran of Lisbon, hanging on for a third and last European final. There was a chapter inevitably closing on all of this, Celtic and life as always tied together in an unbreakable bond. There was a feeling of fear and dread in my heart at what next season would bring, in comparison to such magical heights.

It would take time before I was ready to contemplate the future with real positivity.

With enthusiasm.

To understand and remember that Celtic FC has previous, in terms of recovering from major setbacks to go in search of new glories.

We idolise the great legends of the past, enjoy the stars of the present then await the emergence of the next generation, those who will thrill us and leave their own mark for the supporters of the future. The Celtic rite of passage, on the pitch, just as it is with the support.

There would be a time for reflection, as we regrouped and re-organised post-O’Neill.

Then it would be a time for new heroes as, once again, we willed those wearing the green-and-white Hoops of our beloved Celtic to make new memories and take on that history, to remain the dominant force in Scotland in the third millennium.