{"id":682278,"date":"2026-01-08T13:21:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T13:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/682278\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T13:21:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T13:21:23","slug":"i-never-got-to-say-goodbye-to-john-robertson-but-i-know-exactly-what-hed-have-thought-of-my-third-celtic-stint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/682278\/","title":{"rendered":"I never got to say goodbye to John Robertson but I know exactly what he’d have thought of my third Celtic stint"},"content":{"rendered":"

O’Neill paid a poignant tribute to his long-time friend who sadly passed away on Christmas Day following a long battle with illness\"MartinMartin O’Neill and John Robertson celebrate during their days at Celtic(Image: PA Archive\/Press Association Images)<\/p>\n

In this part of the world, football can feel like a matter of life and death.<\/p>\n

Ask most Celtic<\/a> fans and Wilfried Nancy\u2019s<\/a> disastrous 33-day reign in charge would\u2019ve given them sleepless nights. They can rest easy now that one of the greatest figures in the club\u2019s history is back again to try and salvage the season.<\/p>\n

But for all the charming wit and razor-sharp quips that still roll off the tongue, Martin O\u2019Neill<\/a> walked into Lennoxtown on Tuesday carrying a reminder that some things are much bigger than a 90-minute match. O\u2019Neill\u2019s second return as interim boss has been tinged with heartache following the passing of close pal and long-time lieutenant John Robertson on Christmas Day after a long battle with illness.<\/a><\/p>\n

Hoops supporters might look back on this season with regret if their dreams of five-in-a-row are dashed. But for legendary gaffer O\u2019Neill, the lingering sadness will be missing the chance to say farewell to one of his oldest pals in the game. He said: “Do you know what? The disappointment with myself is that I didn’t see John in recent times. I didn’t see him. Obviously, he would have known that I was up here.<\/p>\n

“But the week that I wanted to go up and see him, my granddaughter seriously was not well, she was in and out of hospital for two or three days, and I thought, listen, I’ll get there. I’ll get up and see John.<\/p>\n

“And I didn’t get to see him. And then I got the call on Christmas Day that he had died and I’m really disappointed with myself, you know, that I didn’t see him in the latter stages.<\/p>\n

“There might have been part of me thinking that maybe I didn’t want to see somebody as frail as he was and maybe that’s your last thought of him, rather than the person I’ve known all these years.<\/p>\n

“So, I don’t know. I\u2019m a bit confused in that sense. But, yeah, real loss, honestly. He really was special, you know, honestly. And, yeah, a special character.”<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a whirlwind five weeks for O\u2019Neill, stepping away as caretaker boss before returning a month later.<\/p>\n

But the Irishman smiles when he thinks what Robertson – his trusted assistant during that iconic spell at Parkhead between 2000 and 2005 – would\u2019ve made of him returning to the hotseat again.<\/p>\n

He said with a grin: \u201cA third time. He’d have thought that was laughable. He would, honestly. He\u2019d have been like, \u2018You\u2019re not wise, Martin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before teaming up in a formidable management team, O\u2019Neill and Robertson conquered Europe under Brian Clough during Nottingham Forest\u2019s golden era.<\/p>\n

\"MartinMartin O’Neill with his trusted Celtic backroom team of John Robertson and Steve Walford(Image: SNS)<\/p>\n

And Robbo – widely regarded as Forest\u2019s greatest ever player – will always remain a huge part of O\u2019Neill\u2019s story.<\/p>\n

Asked if he had the chance to speak to Robertson on the phone before his sad passing, O\u2019Neill added: “It would have been some months ago.<\/p>\n

“And John would get embarrassed with that there, the fact that he wasn’t able to speak to you properly. So he would be there and maybe he didn’t want you to come up and see him in that shape.<\/p>\n

“But, yeah, he was, honestly, a special boy. A special player, you know, a special player, of which I was obviously very jealous of him because he got all the accolades, quite rightly so.”<\/p>\n

Over two decades since his trophy-laden five-year reign in Glasgow, O\u2019Neill now has a new backroom team to rely upon in Shaun Maloney, Mark Fotheringham, Stephen McManus, Gavin Strachan and Stevie Woods.<\/p>\n

Yet despite the calamitous run of results under Nancy, O\u2019Neill never expected to receive another SOS from majority shareholder Dermot Desmond.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neill was given just 10 minutes to make up his mind about returning when Rodgers sensationally quit in October.<\/p>\n

But he had the fear when he saw Irish tycoon Desmond\u2019s name flashing on his phone this time around.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI was with Mark Guidi, who had organised the event a way back, immediately after I had left. I was having a coffee with him up in Duke Street thinking about coming to the function.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen I saw Dermot\u2019s name come up… I was worried in case I had said something the previous afternoon at a function that I might be reprimanded for, you know.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I had said something out of turn, that was my immediate thought. Of course, if you are in, and you have lost some games, then of course you will feel a lot of pressure, as I did at Leicester City.<\/p>\n

\"DermotDermot Desmond watches on from the Celtic Park main stand<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you are still not thinking that you want to leave the football club as quickly as that, which was probably Wilfried\u2019s immediate thoughts.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo coming back was not my immediate thought, my thought was honestly that I might have said something to have me reprimanded.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neill had been out of football for six years before incredibly leading a confidence-stricken Celtic team to seven wins from eight. But the Treble-winning legend admits he now faces a completely different challenge after being handed the reins until the end of the season.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cIt is different in the sense that it seems as if it’s longer. So, you know, the sort of supply teacher idea, I thought maybe I could be out of here any given week.<\/p>\n

“I knew it was never going to be that long. And it would certainly never have been beyond Christmas at worst or even best because the new manager coming in would need to have the transfer window to adjust and look at things.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut yes, there is that pressure of course. You do have to prove yourself again, honestly. And that is the nature of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most people O\u2019Neill\u2019s age, 73, would\u2019ve sailed quietly into the sunset after a remarkable career.<\/p>\n

But age-defying O\u2019Neill confessed: \u201cIn this game, almost every week, you are having to do this. Honestly, you are only as good as your last result, and that\u2019s it. In many respects it is what\u2019s kept me going in the game.<\/p>\n

“But I do agree with you and I would feel under pressure as well if we lost football matches and people\u2019s expectations of you starts to go on the wane. What do you do? But did I want to do this? Yes, I did.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople say you want to come back and do great for a club you love, and yes that is part of it. But you also still want to be involved in football. That\u2019s the point. Even at my age.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"O’Neill paid a poignant tribute to his long-time friend who sadly passed away on Christmas Day following a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":682279,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[2628,35745,86126,94,79673,1638,7081,79,16,15,179997],"class_list":{"0":"post-682278","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-celtic-fc","9":"tag-christmas","10":"tag-christmas-gifts","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-martin-oneill","13":"tag-scottish-premiership","14":"tag-scottish-professional-football-league","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-wilfried-nancy"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115859691103719926","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=682278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/682279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=682278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=682278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=682278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}