Martin O’Neill is undoubtedly the best manager Celtic has ever had since the late, great Jock Stein back in the golden era of the Lisbon Lions.
O’Neill arrived at Celtic in 2000 as the Parkhead club struggled to topple Rangers as the dominant force in Scottish football.
In five years at Celtic, O’Neill won three league titles, three Scottish Cups and a League Cup and sparked a period of domination that the fans are still enjoying to this day.
However, there is one major regret that the legendary manager had whilst at Celtic and he shared that whilst telling what Roy Keane did for the 2003 UEFA Cup final when he was still at Manchester United.
Martin O’Neill slaughters Porto’s antics in 2003 UEFA Cup vs Celtic
Celtic fans are all well-versed on the Seville final and how the Porto players acted every time a Hoops player challenged them or when they scored.
And O’Neill wasn’t shy as he severely criticised them for their off-the-ball shenanigans.
O’Neill told Stick to Football [45m], “Well, we, Celtic, got to the UEFA Cup final in 2003 against Jose Mourinho’s side, the same side went on to win the Champions League the following year.
“We got beaten an extra time, 3-2, with a man sent off in the game, we could have won. They play-acted for a lot of the time’, they didn’t need, yeah.’
Every time they scored a goal, they went back to Porto to celebrate.
Martin O’Neill shares what Roy Keane did at 2003 UEFA Cup final and Celtic regret
O’Neill has enjoyed immense success as the manager of Celtic, Aston Villa and Leicester City but when asked if there was one result he could change in his entire career, the Hoops legend was in no doubt what it was.
“UEFA Cup final,” O’Neill continued, “We had 75,000 fans come down to Seville. Roy came over to the game.
We hadn’t known each other. I would change that.”
Millions of Celtic fans all over the world would change that result if they could as it is one that still stings in the mind.
However, what O’Neill can take great pride in is that he was the man who was responsible for turning around the fortunes of Celtic and helped to place the building blocks that have made the club the most successful club in Scotland.
