MARTIN O’NEILL hasn’t missed a trick since making a stunning return to Celtic at the age of 73.
The treble-winning Hoops boss might be in his first management role in football for six years but he’s already got one league win under his belt and swatted Rangers aside in a Premier Sports Cup semi-final at Hampden.
That’s despite inheriting a team from his countryman Brendan Rodgers which was clearly in something of a mini-slump.
In fact, he’s done so well that there’s increasing talk that he could be asked to manage the team for a while longer.
His next challenge is a tricky looking Europa League clash against an FC Midtjylland side which LEAD the standings after three matches in this competition.
And as he jetted out to Scandinavia to fulfil the matchday minus one duties ahead of the game, a clip of the press conference showed the bizarre moment he appeared to switch off midway through a reporter’s question.
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It’s unclear whether he was playing a joke on the press pack or had genuinely suffered a lapse in concentration, but when asked early in his presser if ‘any of his injured players were any closer to returning’, O’Neill is looks down at the table then glances back up and saying: “Sorry … I was still thinking about Jane’s answer, my answer to Jane.”
The Jane in question was BBC Scotland reporter Jane Lewis, who had just been asking Peter Schmeichel about how it feels to playing back in Denmark.
The reporter patiently tried again, saying: “Sorry Martin, I was just asking about fitness after the weekend, the players who have been out, are they any closer to returning?”
Matchday minus one press conferences can be wearying affairs with a number of questions and answers translated to different languages.
But O’Neill certainly showed no ill effects afterwards as he held court on subjects such as the injury status of his team, the emergence of youngsters like Callum Osmand and even hitting back at Rangers for ‘making excuses’ over their Hampden defeat.
Interim boss O’Neill is preparing for his first Euro tie as Celts boss since his first spell in charge, a 0-0 draw against Milan in the Champions League at Parkhead on December 7, 2004.
Asked if he’d had any more thoughts on the position, O’Neill said: “No I haven’t.
“I’m totally aware that the results dictate everything…everything.
“Just let’s turn the clock back and we’d lost to Rangers, then I think the hunt for the manager, which is on at this minute, becomes intensified.
“But if you get a result, it’s a bit of respite.
“And if you think about it now, the international break coming up in a fortnight…it’s a fair length of time for the board to be at least on the search for someone.
“We’re in the results business and we have to get results.
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“I genuinely mean this, it just does give a bit more time.”
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