In the interminable tit-for-tat Glasgow rivalry, one accusation that is often fired across the city from Rangers supporters is that Celtic fans are ‘obsessed’ with their rivals. And, for a while at least, it seems there may have been some basis to the charge – right to the top levels of the club.
For Martin O’Neill, beating Rangers was everything. And though these days - with Celtic having been so dominant for so long - some fans may reasonably argue that simply being better than the Ibrox club is no longer a benchmark Celtic should be judging themselves by, it is still the most important thing for many.
“I have to say, for my five years there, I was obviously obsessed with the Rangers,” O’Neill said.
“Yeah, I had an obsession with them. For instance, if we were playing on a Sunday, you knew that Rangers dropping points away from home on the Saturday was vital.
“You didn't expect Rangers to drop too many points, and the number of times that on the Saturday, after we'd finished our training and before meeting at the hotel, I would be travelling around, driving around, listening to the last 25 minutes of the game at Ibrox.
“If it was still a draw at the time, I'd say, ‘oh please, just wrap it up now, wrap it up now!’ And you always knew that when you switched it off and you came back on again, you just knew from the crowd that they'd scored. I thought, ‘oh, Jesus’.
“So, it was wild, honestly and I did that until my wife told me, ‘Catch yourself on, you can't influence a game over there at Ibrox.’ But it was like that.
“First of all, when I came to the football club, it was to try and be as good as Rangers for a start.
“I mean it happened a wee bit more quickly than we all imagined, but at the end of it, that was it.”
Of course, the landscape in Glasgow has changed somewhat since O’Neill’s day, with the relative strength of both sides waning as Scottish football struggles to keep up with the financial might of the major leagues. The decline, though, has undoubtedly been steeper at Ibrox.
“I thought Rangers were the benchmark for the very obvious reason they were miles clear of Celtic,” he said.
“They finished 21 points ahead the previous year and they had really good players.
“I remember Dick (Advocaat) saying, when he signed I think about five lads from the leagues here, he said ‘This is my league team, my European Cup team is elsewhere’.
“I thought, ‘oh, good lord’. So, that was kind of scary at the time, so he did scare me. I felt that Rangers were genuinely the benchmark at that stage.
“Obviously winning the first Old Firm game 6-2 helped us gain a bit of steel about ourselves, even after they hammered us at Ibrox in the next one.
“I'm not so sure that had the first Old Firm game been played at Ibrox, and they hammered us, that we would have had the same confidence.”
O’Neill can scarcely believe that the 24th anniversary of that famous 6-2 drubbing passed during the week, and he finds it even more remarkable that the last time Celtic won a knockout European tie after Christmas was also under his charge over 20 years ago now, as O’Neill’s side knocked Barcelona out of what was then the UEFA Cup.
Read more:
-
Reason no transfer clause included in Gustaf Lagerbielke Celtic exit
-
Celtic vs Rangers: TV channel, live stream & kick-off
Of the numerous factors behind that dreadful record, O’Neill thinks that the lack of a strong rival breathing down Celtic’s neck certainly hasn’t helped.
“For Celtic to be strong, you need Rangers to be strong, and Rangers are not strong,” he said.
“You don't think that Rangers are capable of going away from home and winning games.
“They may do, but you don't think that there are certainties to win away from home.
“They could beat Celtic on Sunday, it's possible, you know? But over the whole season if the teams remain roughly the same as they are? They would need to bring some players in.”
That being said, he does think Brendan Rodgers will be looking to shift Celtic’s focus more onto the challenge of European competition rather than whatever challenge is coming from Ibrox, despite their obvious disadvantages at that level, as evidenced by Brighton snapping up Matt O’Riley during the week.
Such a transfer happening during O’Neill’s reign would have been unthinkable.
“Domestically, you want to stay strong,” he said.
“But the best Celtic team ever is the 1967 side, and you want to be aspiring to something pretty close to that.
“Brendan would be no different to myself in terms of being a manager - he wouldn't want to lose players at this stage.
“I'm sure he would want to try and make an impact in the Champions League if they could do.
“I do feel more signings are needed if you want to make an impact in the Champions League, which is the whole idea.
“If you're dominating domestic football as Celtic are doing at this minute, then the next challenge is European football. I'm sure that is one of the reasons Brendan would have wanted to come back as well.”
Martin O'Neill and Graeme Souness were guests on The Warm-Up, the essential William Hill SPFL preview show. Watch their exclusive Old Firm episode by clicking here.
