When Martin O’Neill spoke to the press today (Friday) ahead of Sunday’s League Cup semi-final against Rangers at Hampden, some of the questions naturally referenced the Irishman’s first Glasgow derby experience as Celtic manager. That came back in August 2000 when the Hoops beat Rangers 6-2, a result which signaled the start of a sustained period of dominance for Celtic in Scottish football. It goes without saying that he and, indeed, the entire Celtic support, would love the team to replicate that result on Sunday, though the manager admitted he would be happy with a scrappy 1-0 win, so long as Celtic are in the League Cup final. The Celtic manager said: “I’m excited by the fixture, it’s always a great one, so I’m looking forward to it. “There’s a nervousness for about 72 hours before and then, if you did get the result, it was a great relief, and I think that’s what the great Walter Smith used to say about it as well, that it was relief more than anything else. “They were fantastic fixtures and when the stadiums had the full allocation of away support as well, which was terrific, and I always felt going to Ibrox that our crowd would have helped us in the same manner that I’m sure Alex McLeish thought the Rangers crowd did at Celtic Park.”Martin O’Neill kicked off his tenure as interim manager with a 4-0 victory over Falkirk at Celtic Park on Wednesday night, and he believes the performance and result represented a restoration of confidence for the squad. “I learned a great deal from the Falkirk game, which was great for us, so we’ll go into this game with that confidence, and that’s the most important thing. “This is a big game for us and I don’t disguise that all. It’s the semi-final and it’s a big match for us. Any Celtic-Rangers game is a big game but particularly given the circumstances of recent days, if not weeks, it really is.” Watch the manager’s full press Looking ahead to semi-final Memories of the derby Squad update Upcoming FixturesCeltic Vs. Rangers – Thu, Nov 11th 2025, 17:45
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