A month after majority owner Dermot Desmond asked club legend Martin O'Neill to return following Brendan Rodgers' acrimonious departure, the 73-year-old has begun to steady a club in turmoil. Out of management for more than six years, O'Neill arrived at Parkhead to find Celtic struggling on the field — eight points adrift of Hearts after a 3-1 defeat at Tynecastle — and under intense off-field pressure from protesting supporters.
While tensions off the pitch persist, O'Neill's impact on results has been clear. Celtic's 3-1 victory away to Feyenoord on Thursday was their first European away win since November 2021 and marked O'Neill's fifth victory in six games since his return. The win helped close the gap on Hearts to four points with a game in hand and followed a triumph over Rangers that secured a place in the League Cup final.
In Rotterdam, Feyenoord opened the scoring through Ayase Ueda, but Celtic fought back as Yang Hyun-jun and Reo Hatate turned the match around and Benjamin Nygren added a late goal to seal the win. It was Celtic's first success in the Netherlands since 2001 — during O'Neill's first spell in charge when the side famously knocked Ajax out of Champions Leag
