You can fault Martin O’Neill for this result, but actually Ireland had overachieved as they were going through a lull with their poorest set of players for a few generations. You look like a boy who would put your mate in the shit,” was the message in an early training session. Celtic ended up dropping down into the UEFA cup, where the first team were to be knocked out on penalties. They moved from London’s Kentish Town to St Leonard’s on Sea some 60k south of the capital and set up a Studio on the coast.

He is well thought of by the Celtic fans for what he has done for us over the last four-and-a-half years.

The First Team required one or two new players, Petrov was better in the centre than on the wing, the young goalkeeper (David Marshall) was not coping with being first choice and the centre of defence was as slow as any side could get and so on. One theory that has been spun about Martin O’Neill on why he was such a good manager is because he was an avid legal eagle, having done a law degree and that it was in the family and so on. What is special is the atmosphere created by the 60,000 people who gather here every second weekend.

In 2019, he moved to Nottingham Forrest for the managerial role again along with Roy Keane, but the stint was short, just five months, in what was a no-win situation at a faltering club. Yet, Martin O’Neill’s men under his management sealed a famous 1-0 victory at home, and then drew in a hard-fought away match in Barcelona. Linked with vacant managerial post at Leeds following George Graham’s move to Tottenham Hotspur but elects to remain at Filbert Street.A season never to be forgotten by any Celtic fan (or anyone else who was there to witness any of it! A 3-0 win against Rangers away at Ibrox sealed Celtic’s dominance for the season, the only blip being losing the Cups.

February: Reaches his first final with Villa, in the Carling Cup against Manchester United, but they lose 2-1. Liverpool were very well fancied to easily win both games, and even though they had the better of the first game, Martin O’Neill won the battles against his Liverpool counterpart and took the game to Liverpool at their own ground, getting tactics and formations correct, winning 2-0 in what can be said to have been in a manner that made it look easier for us than it was. However, in the league it was too much to battle on two fronts, for the league and the UEFA Cup at the same time. I had a wobble once when my water bucket in my Mum and Dad’s shed froze over one night when I was silkscreen editioning.Add in the recovery of Henrik Larsson, after his horrendous injury the previous year, and he had the nucleus of a great team, a blessing for any manager. Then I kind of fell off the end of the course with no direction or training on how to make a living in the art/design world, but I was making a lot of work everyone on my course seemed to love. May: Celtic lose 2-1 at Motherwell and O’Neill’s hopes of a fourth title in five years disappear as Rangers win 1-0 at Hibernian. Much of the season was overshadowed by the announcement that Larsson was not to renew his contract and had decided to move on.

Rumours abounded about his personal family circumstances, and at the year it was made publicly know that his wife was suffering from lymphoma. May: Villa finish sixth again, a run of nine games without a win costing them Champions League place. In many ways, there was little more Martin O’Neill could do more but he made the difference for the players to believe in themselves to be able to compete toe-to-toe with the best, and it was agonising to see us fall at the final hurdle.

HarperSport, ISBN-10: 0007233477) which describes gaffer Martin O’Neill’s famously inspirational speech at Anfield prior to the game.