Former Liverpool star Jamie Carragher reckons Martin O'Neill conjured a fear factor which rendered the opposition defenceless during his storied managerial career.
And the acclaimed pundit hailed the Irishman's knack for getting the opposition on edge as a key factor behind the Parkhead side's stunning 2-0 triumph at Anfield in the UEFA Cup quarter final in 2003 en route to Seville. Henrik Larsson has recounted the greatest ever team talk O'Neill conjured and now the Kop icon admits the power of O'Neill stretched beyond the away dressing room. The 43–year–old insists facing Celtic or O'Neill's Leicester side was a major challenge to overcome.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Carragher said: "Mentioning Celtic and Leicester, I always had a huge fear coming up against your teams. And fear in that, you had a great knack of getting results it felt at that time. Certainly with Leicester in the Liverpool team I played in. A lot of times you'd come to Anfield and got decent results.
"I remember Celtic beat us in the UEFA Cup – I think that might have been the season you got to the Final."
O'Neill added: "Absolutely, we had drawn the first game at Celtic 1-1 and it meant we had to score in the game (at Anfield). Alan Thompson scores for us just before half time and John Hartson scores a screamer. We won 2-0. It was a big result for us to take us into the semi final but also a big result for Scottish football. We were always compared unfavourably with the Engllsh Premier League and Liverpool, as your side were riding so high. THIS was a big, big result."
Carragher then responded, stating: "Can I ask you a question? You may not remember but at that stage when you knocked us out the competition, you were linked heavily, for about six-12 months, with the Liverpool job, were you ever in the running?"
O'Neill, in response, said: "No, it didn't materialise or it didn't happen. I was extremely happy at Celtic at the time and it would have taken a lot for me to move away."
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