Martin O'Neill enjoying Celtic 'euphoria' - but hoping for 'not many more' matches in charge after replacing Brendan Rodgers

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Martin O'Neill has returned to Celtic Park 20 years after his first spell as manager to lead the team, while the board considers its next steps following the departure of Brendan Rodgers. O'Neill won the first two matches of his interim spell, including a Scottish League Cup semi-final against rivals Rangers. They play Midtjylland next in the UEFA Europa League - live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

'I'm hanging around for at least one more game, hopefully not many more' - O'Neill on Celtic job

Video credit: TNT Sports

Despite admitting to enjoying his return to football management "in a sort of perverse way" at the age of 73, Martin O’Neill hopes there are "not that many more" matches to come in his second spell as Celtic boss.

Since being drafted in as interim cover following Brendan Rodgers’ abrupt exit from Parkhead, O’Neill has led the team to a Scottish Premiership win against Falkirk and an Old Firm victory against Rangers in the semi-finals of the Scottish League Cup.

Speaking ahead of his return to European football as Celtic face Midtjylland in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday - live on TNT Sports and discovery+ - O’Neill said he has felt nothing but joy since their extra-time victory over Rangers at Hampden Park.

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"Ecstatic," he told TNT Sports. "Absolutely ecstatic. There’s no question about it.

"I travelled down to London to get my passport, and it was a lovely feeling of - as Walter Smith used to say to me - one of relief for a start, and then one of euphoria that you’ve actually beaten the Old Firm team."

Life has moved fast for O’Neill in recent weeks as he swapped the commentary gantry for the dugout after six years away from management.

"[Life is] so unpredictable and I know it’s old hat now but really, the previous week, the previous Monday, just minding my own business in London, sitting down there - those coffees are very expensive in London - I get a call and suddenly, you’re thrust into it," he said.

With coaches Shaun Maloney, Mark Fotheringham and Stephen McManus for support, O’Neill has felt well-backed to hit the ground running in Glasgow.

Celtic 'naturally' looking for replacement after 'calling a 73-year-old to hold the fort' - O'Neill

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"The whole side kind of rallied round me, which was really nice, and I felt pretty decent," he said. "But, as you well know, the game is all about winning football matches.

"If we hadn’t beaten Rangers, if Rangers had come back and beaten us on penalty kicks, they’d be saying, ‘well, there you are, he’s had one game, that’s it, and he’s too old!’

"I’m hanging around for at least one more game, but hopefully not that many more."

O’Neill was part of the TNT Sports punditry team when Nottingham Forest took on Midtjylland last month. Even though he watched the Danish team beat Forest that night at the City Ground, O’Neill says he absorbs games differently when he is not managing a team.

"I watch Champions League football and I watch Europa League football too, but I watch it as a spectator," he said.

"I’ve not been looking around and saying, ‘do they play 3-5-2, or 1-7-2’ or whatever the case may be. I haven’t watched it. Now, I’ve had to focus as a manager.

"All I do know, it’ll be a difficult game. European matches, they are, they’re difficult. Then, we still want to try and hang in there in the league until a manager is brought into the equation."

When it was put to O’Neill that he might be relishing his time back in the managerial spotlight, he said: "Absolutely not! Not at all!

"People think I’m just having a joke about it. In a sort of perverse way, I’m kind of enjoying it."

'I know the consequences' - O'Neill still 'has to win' at Celtic despite interim status

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He added: "You have to win football matches because everything changes again on Thursday night. Don’t get a result, don’t win the game, get beaten in the match, get beaten badly in the game, I know the consequence," O’Neill said.

"I’ve been perpetuating that sort of nonsense for quite some time. Doing some sort of punditry work, I say ‘managers know they’ve got to win’, so that has to apply to me as well."

O’Neill has been speaking to the Celtic board regularly - including major shareholder Dermot Desmond - but he is yet to be given any indication of how long he will be leading the team for.

"I spoke to him on Sunday night, very briefly," O'Neill said. "Nothing’s been said at all. There’s a fortnight break [international break] and I’m quite sure each day that goes along, the board will be thinking about people anyway. Only natural.

"I think they've just been taken aback a little bit by Brendan [Rodgers] resigning. Otherwise they wouldn’t be calling a 73-year-old man to hold the fort."

How to watch and live stream FC Midtjylland v Celtic in the UEFA Europa League

'Sad' to 'surreal' - Tierney on managerial changes

Rodgers was influential in Kieran Tierney’s return to Celtic Park and the Scotland defender has admitted it was tough to see him walk away from the club.

"It’s been hard but, also, you kind of know that’s football as well," Tierney told TNT Sports.

"These things can happen but the important thing is you don’t hide how you feel. I was sad he was away, the same with John Kennedy and the other staff members as well, because they’ve been great for me."

Tierney came through the youth system at Celtic, before his impressive rise in the game prompted a move to Arsenal.

Injuries hampered his time at Emirates Stadium and he made the return to Glasgow during the summer.

Tierney on 'surreal' feeling of playing under O'Neill - 'That was my era'

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Having grown up as a young player at Celtic, Tierney says it has been incredible to work with O’Neill over the last week.

"It’s amazing," he said. "Growing up, that was my era at Celtic. Watching his team and how well they did and what he did for the club at the time as well was so important.

"It’s surreal working with a manager like him because you never think it’s going to happen. Especially when he was here, like, 20 years ago. Even family members are texting me saying ‘I can’t believe I’m going to watch Celtic and you’re playing under Martin O’Neill!’ It’s amazing and the feeling’s been great since they came in.

"He can say the smallest thing to you but make you feel on top of the world. As a manager, to have a trait like that, is amazing. Just a couple of words is sometimes all he needs to give you and you feel brilliant.

"You need to believe and that’s one thing he came in and wanted to do - give us confidence and give us belief. Maybe he’s seen from the outside that we weren’t as confident as we could be. I think, so far, they’ve managed to do that and I hope we can build on that and keep going."

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