{"id":316477,"date":"2025-11-29T13:01:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T13:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/316477\/"},"modified":"2025-11-29T13:01:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T13:01:10","slug":"the-2-key-secrets-to-celtic-turnaround-under-martin-oneill-escape-the-dressing-room-and-theyre-simpler-than-you-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/316477\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2 key secrets to Celtic turnaround under Martin O’Neill escape the dressing room and they’re simpler than you think"},"content":{"rendered":"

The interim boss has injected some humour and a back-to-basics approach that has stood them in good steadCeltic’s interim management team of Shaun Maloney and Martin O’Neill <\/p>\n

Liam Scales admits it’ll be the laughter and a back to basics approach which will linger longest when Martin O’Neill<\/a>‘s leaves Celtic for a second time.<\/p>\n

The Hoops defender delivered a tribute to the stand-in boss who he believes was the perfect man to rise to the moment amidst the chaos and shock around Brendan Rodgers<\/a>‘ departure last month.<\/p>\n

Thursday night’s Europa League fightback against Feyenoord<\/a> was another feather in the cap of the 71-year-old’s month spell as interim boss which will come to an end at Easter Road on Sunday when Wilfried Nancy is expected to arrive 24 hours later.<\/p>\n

But Scales<\/a> is adamant O’Neill’s enhanced an already silver tinted legacy by steering the club though turmoil and uncertainty with his trademark humour, tactical nous and striping the game back to it’s simplest form.<\/p>\n

He said: “A lot of it with the manager has been about trying to bring a bit of confidence into the squad. I think it’s clear to see he’s done that. In everything he says and does, he’s clear that we’re top players and we can all play for this club and do well for this club and win games in Europe and win games in the league.<\/p>\n

“I think just his ability to instil confidence in the team. How he speaks and how he comes across has been really impressive. I think that will definitely help. Sometimes going back to basics is the best thing you can do.<\/p>\n

“For me as a defender, playing under him, he’s fully focused on defenders defending first. In a modern game, that can change at times, but it’s been refreshing to be part of that and to have that comfort that if you defend well, he’s going to be happy with you.<\/p>\n

“It’s been mainly around building that confidence back and I think he’s done a great job. You saw that on the pitch last night. The coach and staff have been excellent as well.<\/p>\n

“He’s funny and has got a good sense of humour as well. it’s not all been relaxed. There have been times where he’s had to inject a bit of aggression and that happens with every manager. In a time of uncertainty, for someone to come in and head the club and lead the players, I don’t think you could have found a better person to do that at Celtic.<\/p>\n

“All managers are different so it’s been interesting to work with someone with a different type of style. He’s very good at speaking and I think that’s what has given us confidence.<\/p>\n

\"Celtic'sCeltic’s Liam Scales (L) and TNT Sports pundit Joe Hart (Image: SNS Group)<\/p>\n

“Every time he speaks, there’s always a little bit of humour or he’ll take the mick out of someone but it’s all in the right ways. It gives people a chance to just laugh. It improves the mood, I suppose.<\/p>\n

“You probably see it in the media, when he’s doing media stuff. He always has a little something and it’s the same.”<\/p>\n

O’Neill’s return could have risked placing a stain on his trophy-laden five-year spell in charge at the turn of the century but Scales is adamant the Northern Irishman was never gambling on a relationship with the fans and club which has long since been secured.<\/p>\n

The Republic of Ireland international also believes the first win on foreign soil since November 2021 was another positive caveat to a man who’s answered the club’s call.<\/p>\n

He said: “I don’t think Martin necessarily needed to come back to improve his legacy. You saw the reaction of the fans when it was announced and it’s been a pleasure to work with him.<\/p>\n

“It’s nice. It’s good for everyone to win a game. It’s good for us and it’s definitely good for him. Not that he needed to improve anything but it’s been good.<\/p>\n

“I think probably just his relationship and history with the club, he felt maybe at a time of need, it was time for him to come in and do what he’s done.<\/p>\n

“It wasn’t something he needed to do but I think it\u2019s his love for the club and his love for the game as well. You can tell from talking to him how much he loves football and I think coming back in, I’d say he’s enjoyed it.”<\/p>\n

All eyes will now turn to Sunday’s Premiership clash at Hibs and Scales believes the European demands have placed a strain on the domestic demands as Celtic aim to continue to chase Hearts at the summit.<\/p>\n

He said: “It has been tough. I just think games of football away in Europe are really difficult.<\/p>\n

“It wouldn’t play on my mind that it’s been a while since we’ve won away from home. It’s just a difficult thing to do, to go away in Europe. “It’s nice to have done it and won against a really good side as well as Feyenoord are a top side. I know maybe form-wise they’re struggling a little bit but they still have really good players and they’ve historically been a good side.<\/p>\n

“It’s such a quick turnaround to the next game though, you have to just get in and try and recover.<\/p>\n

“Then tomorrow focus on how we’re going to play on the weekend. You don’t have much time to process and think about what’s just been. It’s a great result and it’s put us in a much better position in the competition but we need to just switch now and focus on the league. I think that’s a blessing as well.<\/p>\n

“You don’t want to get too caught up in good or bad results and it’s nice to have games on the bounce.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The interim boss has injected some humour and a back-to-basics approach that has stood them in good steadCeltic’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316478,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,18282,6254,128625,596,10759,113572,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-316477","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-celtic-fc","11":"tag-europa-league","12":"tag-feyenoord","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-liam-scales","15":"tag-martin-oneill","16":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}