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O'Neill on his European send-off, Feyenoord & Iheanacho

2025-11-26 18:27
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O'Neill on his European send-off, Feyenoord & Iheanacho

Interim manager Martin O'Neill has been speaking to the media on the eve of Celtic's crucial Europa League match away to Feyenoord on Thursday. O'Neill acknowledged his interim spell in charge is comi...

O'Neill on his European send-off, Feyenoord & IheanachoStory byLiam McLeod - BBC Sport Scotland Commentator in RotterdamWed, November 26, 2025 at 6:27 PM UTC·1 min read

Interim manager Martin O'Neill has been speaking to the media on the eve of Celtic's crucial Europa League match away to Feyenoord on Thursday.

Here are the key points from the new conference:

  • He started by stating there is no update with regards a new manager being appointed.

  • O'Neill acknowledged his interim spell in charge is coming to an end with Celtic expected to announce Wilfried Nancy as permanent boss.

  • He says he would rather have had a European send-off at Celtic Park.

  • He is anticipating a "difficult" match despite Feyenoord's recent struggles and says Celtic go into the game with confidence despite not playing "particularly brilliantly" in the last-gasp win at St Mirren last weekend.

  • O'Neill praised Feyenoord as a club and the historical connection between the sides, remembering the 1970 European Cup final in which Jock Stein's favourites lost to the Dutch three years on from victory in Lisbon.

  • He adds: "The 1970 European Cup final was a massive disappointment for us. We'd beaten Leeds United in the semi finals and we were expected to win and Feyenoord come up and win the game, so it does have history attached to it."

  • Kelechi Iheanacho, who has missed the past six matches through injury, is back in contention but this game may be too soon for the striker. Left-back Marcelo Saracchi has also returned to training after injury.

  • O'Neill lamented the number of players unavailable to him during his short stint in charge: "If the players could stay injury-free then that would be great. We haven't had the use of a number of quality players. You're looking for fit people, we will see.

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