Martin O'Neill addresses Celtic future, has words for Hearts and reveals Derek McInnes full-time moment

A late goal from 20-year-old substitute Callum Osmand, who has been treated as something of a pet project, was the icing on the cake for the refulgent Martin O’Neill.

The 74-year-old gave thanks to Celtic from the pitch afterwards, stressing the club had given him a “reason to live”. He might have instantly regretted this statement since his family were at the game but the bond between Celtic and the legendary manager, already a tight one, seems completely unbreakable now. There’s still a double in the offing too, with Neil Lennon’s Dunfermline waiting in next weekend’s Scottish Cup final.

It's hard to take issue with the statement that no one else could have done what he has done. Although there were still banners in the area of Parkhead populated by the Green Brigade calling for the likes of Celtic chief executive Michael Nicholson to go, O’Neill has managed to get most people pulling in the same direction. This seemed impossible just a few months ago.

Celtic left it late but they got there in a Parkhead cauldron to cap perhaps the strangest season in the club’s history. After three managers, including one, Wilfried Nancy, who lasted only eight games, it might not have been a vintage season. However, it has certainly been a memorable one.

It ended controversially, no question. O’Neill didn’t want to be accused of sugar-coating things afterwards, following allegations that opposition players were assaulted after a pitch invasion by celebrating Celtic fans following the third goal. “If Hearts players have been accosted by some of our fans, that's pretty serious,” he said. Amid the chaos, referee Don Robertson apparently blew the final whistle early, but that was news to most people, including O’Neill.

“I thought the game wasn't over, so I'm trying to push some of our fans off the pitch again to play whatever's left,” he said. “Obviously, I think at 3-1, I think that the fourth official had said to me there was like a minute to go when we scored the goal. So with the best will in the world, they're not going to get two goals in that time. I didn't see the incidents. Obviously, there's a lot of commotion in the tunnel…”

He revealed he didn’t know the game was over until opposite number Derek McInnes approached him to shake his hand. “Derek came over to me and shook my hand, and he said, ‘well done’,” he said. “Then it was probably the moment I thought, well, the game must be over. But I didn't know.”

There was no post-match glass of wine with McInnes, or conversation of any kind, although O'Neill admitted he felt for Hearts. "They have been the story of the season," he said.

“I haven't had a chance to speak to him (McInnes),” he added. “But whoever was going to win, I would imagine that the same scenario would have happened. I think that Derek would have been on the pitch with his team (getting presented with the cup), and I would have been sitting in a room with a towel over my head.”

Now a grandfather of two, he’s surely too old for all this now. Both his grandchildren were at the game, as were his two daughters. “They are not happy with me!” he said after he was reminded of his comment during an interview in the centre-circle about Celtic giving him something to get up for in the morning.

“I am ecstatic, really ecstatic and the great thing is I am getting a lot of credit for things I did not do! I am not going to disavow them of that notion. I never thought I would ever stand on a winners’ podium at this club again, not in a million years.

“Lifting the trophy was the best feeling in the world. There is nothing like that. We have been in front for about 8 or 9 minutes. This group have been through a lot. Resignation (of Brendan Rodgers), me coming in and leaving, another fella (Nancy) coming in and leaving. That is disturbing for a team.

“We have lots of things to put right but the fighting spirit in the camp is special. For all the tactics in the world it is about heart. That is what it boils down to.”

He played down his own part. “I’m just an old man wandering round. Sometimes they think on the training ground I’m a vagrant!” he said with reference to the players, who have all bust a gut for him. What happens next is not yet clear. Celtic have not released any timetable. It’s just assumed O’Neill will walk away at the end of the season and someone else will come in. When asked if this was definitely his final, final season at Parkhead, over 20 years after he first said goodbye, he indicated that it was.

“I’ve just spoken to (largest shareholder) Dermot Desmond and he didn’t indicate otherwise. I would imagine so.”

If it is his last league match in football, what a way to go. With time running out, he made some significant changes, including switching to three at the back after taking off Auston Trusty and sending on Osmand to run in behind the stuffy Hearts defence, which the forward did to very good effect.

Osmand not only scored with what proved the last kick of the game, but he also set up the crucial second goal for Daizen Maeda. Asked if there was a moment when he could finally relax, O’Neill said: “Yes there was .. it was when Callum Osmand ran through to stick it into an empty net!”