3rd December 2025 Celtic Park, Scottish Premiership , Celtic versus Dundee. Celtic interim manager Martin O’Neill waves to the crowd at the end of his last match in charge Photo IMAGO David Young
FATHER MARTIN AND SAMWISE GANGEE – 7/10 (9/10 for overall impact) – And with that, he was gone… The venerable Saint Martin takes his curtain call, thankfully eeking out another essential win, and departs into the care home sector with an enviable record that will surely see him sweep gloriously into the Paradise beyond Paradise when that time comes…He’s not leaving because he lost the dressing room – it’s just that he’s at an age when he sometimes forgets where it is.
Celtic interim manager Martin O’Neill at full time during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Dundee at Celtic Park on December 03, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
There can be no doubt MON’s presence and influence – along with pocket elf-on-the-shelf, SOM (Shaun O’Maloney) – has turned the season around. And probably Mad Fozzie too; ‘Intensity, ya bassa’. Well, not so much turned, as lifted Celtic’s heid out of a puddle of its own vomit, slapped some colour into the cheeks, hosed it down and told it to stop feeling sorry for itself, get out there and do something worth cheering for.
And the response to his unexpected interjection since late October – remarkable, uplifting and invigorating as we now find ourselves competitive once more. His particular ability to subtly man-manage players across different generations has had some obvious effects on this squad. So we wish the departing inscrutable sage well, and can relish the season ahead, the burgeoning glory within reach once again, all due in no small part to the legend of MON.
