The Glasgow Derby as its called now after Rangers went bust back in 2012 on Halloween ended the Old Firm history. The media are still referring to the game as the Old Firm between Celtic and the rangers in the build up to Sundays League Cup semi-final at Hampden but we all know the truth.

Both Celtic and the rangers have had the new managers bounce this week and the game is a 50/50 in many fans eyes. The bookies have Celtic 1/1, the rangers 11/4 with the draw 3/1. Both sets of fans are confident that their team can win. Martin O’Neill knows all about this fixture while Danny Rohl gets his first taste of it.

Halloween 2012 was when the nightmare for every Rangers fan finally arrived when they let their club die unlike the Celtic fans who saved Celtic back in 1994. When Brian Dempsey said those famous words “The Game is Over, The Rebels have Won” and signalled a new era at Celtic Football Club with Fergus McCann and his plan.

Timing is everything and hats off to the Lets be Frank podcast for getting a rare interview with former Celtic director Brian Dempsey at a time when there is so much unrest between the current Celtic board and Celtic Supporters.

https://youtu.be/GDd5nDYZ6ys?si=6eGTfn9r8JeEdDST

I really enjoyed watching the Podcast hosted by former Celtic player Frank McAvennie and Simon Houston. Dempsey spoke in detail about the takeover, battles in the boardroom, old family dynasty’s at Celtic, his ups and downs with Fergus McCann and of course the McCann plan. He name checks Matt McGlone a regular guest on our own Celtic Soul Podcast. Can the Rebels win again? tune in to hear his opinion.

I am sure I will bump into plenty of familiar faces in the morning in Dublin airport and the excitement and nerves will be kicking in when we touch down in Glasgow. Pre-Match pints and hopeful post match celebrations for those who haven’t a ticket for the game will be shown on Premier Sports and fans around the globe will be tuned in as both teams go to battle.

Surly this game can’t be as bad as the league game earlier in the season at Ibrox which will go down in history as the worst game ever game played in the short history of this Glasgow Derby and can Martin O’Neill continue the Halloween nightmare for the Zombies.

Martin O’Neill united Celtic Park last night for 90 minutes. He got a good welcome but with the exception of both Ultra Groups the rest of the Stadium remained quiet with the exception of the 4 goals scored by Celtic that got us all up off our seats and a little burst of song near the end of the game. The song book was Oh Martin O’Neill and Sack the Board from both corners of the ground that both Ultra Groups take up.

The Green Brigade and The Bhoys will be absent from Hampden on Sunday when Celtic take on the rangers in the semi-final of the League Cup. It is a shame that we won’t have both sets of Ultras in the ground to create an atmosphere. Both clubs  have had their allocation slashed by 500 tickets over the use of pyrotechnics. The Ultras argument is that there were not 500 fans involved in the Pyro displays and have decided to boycott the game.

It will be like stepping back in time on Sunday. Martin O’Neill in the dugout and no Celtic Ultras at the game. It will now be up the Celtic players to lift the Celtic fans and get us singing and backing the team after last nights positive result. Four goals and a great night for Sligo’s Johnny Kenny hitting the back of the net twice with Ben Nygren and Seb Tounekti also on the score sheet.

After the game Martin O’ Neill charmed the media with his humour and wit as he spoke about not complicating football and players playing to their strengths and meeting Marcelo Sarrachi ahead of the game for the first time without name checking him instead referring to him as the left back when asked about Kieran Tierney’s absence.

He also had high praise for the Celtic captain who again he did not name check and James Forest who he joked about being as old as him.

With so much divide at the club over recent weeks with both Brendan Rodgers and the Celtic board splitting the fans it was refreshing to hear Martin O’Neill and see  everyone united in welcoming him back and getting behind the team.

Even Dermot Desmond made a rare appearance in the Directors box with Michael Nicholson shuffling up two seats for him and a very tanned Celtic chairman Peter Lawell who has been posted missing for a number of games now so you would presume he was somewhere sunny to get away from all the unrest surrounding Celtic.

With the club’s AGM coming up at a time of continued fan unrest with the performance of the current board will DD shuffle the chairs in the board room or will we see some much needed new blood with new ideas coming in. The rumours are doing the rounds.

Just before 7pm last night a large crowd gathered at the front of the stadium to protest about the current board’s lack of ambition to take the club to the next level both on the field of play and off it. It was peaceful with chants of sack the board and the call for individuals to step down. From where I was standing I could not hear any speakers and I have since heard there was a problem with the PA. The protest finished with some Pyro before the fans made their way to the turnstiles to get in for kick off and welcome back the Gaffer and back the team.

After the game as I settled into the hotel bar for a night cap with the usual suspects it was with a sense of relief that Celtic had won and Hearts had dropped points in Paisley against St. Mirren to narrow the gap to 6 points.

Our opponents on Sunday the rangers took all 3 points at Easter Roads after Hibs missed a last minute penalty. Both teams have had a new manager bounce. Confidence will be higher in both camps ahead of the game than it has been over recent weeks.

For myself its back to a rain soaked Drogheda before we are back in the road following Celtic on Sunday.

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes & host of the Celtic Soul Podcast 

Celtic take on Sturm Graz tonight at Celtic Park. Click image for tonight’s Match Night Zine and sign up for our Newsletters.

Tonight at Celtic Park Martin O’Neill makes his shock return to the Celtic dugout alongside new first team coach Shaun Maloney and a new backroom team of Stephen McManus (stepping up again from the B team) and Mark Fotheringham.

Brendan Rodgers No. 2 John Kennedy has also left the club after 27 years and surprisingly the only thing on Celtic’s website came this morning giving a coaching update brief. Nothing to single out for all the service he has given to the club I do find it a bit strange.

https://www.celticfc.com/news/2025/october/29/celtic-fc-coaching-staff-update/

O’Neill is a Celtic legend and his period at the club was one of my favourite times following the club home and away. Memories come flooding back from the 6-2 game to the run to Seville. Back then he inherited some really good players including Lubo and Henrik and added quality. He was probably the last football Celtic manager with total control of football matters, since he left Celtic have reverted to a more first team coaching model.

When Paddy McCourt arrived at Celtic, Gordon Strachan who replaced MON didn’t know who he was which suggests that he was not fully in control of what players came into the club and depending on who you believe in Brendan v Dermot spat it may well be the case.

After tipping Hearts to win the league on talk sport on Monday, MON received a phone call from Dermot Desmond and not the Celtic CEO Michael Nicholson about coming back as short term manager until a permanent manager could be found. He gave him 10 minutes to make up his mind.

At yesterdays Press conference both MON and Shaun Maloney said this was a short term fix until a permanent replacement for Brendan Rodgers could be found. There have been plenty of names mentioned in the media as to who that replacement might be, Big Ange, Robbie Keane and Kieran McKenna are just 3 who have been linked to the job but I am sure that list will grow along with the rumours.

When you book a flight and hotel for a midweek game against Falkirk at Celtic Park you expect it to be drama free and you would be expecting three points, a few pints and a hotel bed to get your head down.

Well this midweek game build up has had plenty of drama and is playing out like a soap opera. What a few days it has been!

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers resigns and Dermot Desmond comes out on the official club website to make personal attack (Donald Trump Style)  on our former manager and the man he brought back to the club. Actions like this do not show the club in a positive light.

He also wrote in his signed statement that no man is bigger than the club which raised some eyebrows considering how Celtic’s major shareholder took over the media department to make his personal attack which you would have imaged should have been written by the CEO if anyone was to deliver such a character assassination. It was also strange that it came 15 minutes after the usual thanks for your contribution and the best of the luck for the future official club statement.

A protest against the board has been organised by the Celtic Fans Collective for 7pm outside Celtic Park but when the Celtic team come out for kick off they will have the full backing of every Celtic supporter inside Celtic Park and I am sure Martin O’Neill will get a hero’s welcome but the most important thing is 3 points against a Falkirk team who are sixth in the table after 9 games they have 12 points ( 3 wins, 3 draws & 3 loses).

Shaun Maloney has had little time to prepare the team for the game and he got the senior players together yesterday and he will need each one of them to stand up and be counted tonight. We saw flashes of how good a leader Callum McGregor on Sunday in the first half against Hearts. Tonight we need it for all 90 minutes.

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes & host of the Celtic Soul Podcast 

Managers come and go. Football is a results business and Brendan Rodgers officially resigned from his post as Celtic manager last night. As usual when a Manager resigns or is sacked from a club a statement will be released.

Last night was no different at 9:44pm saying that Brendan Rodgers had tendered his resignation and the club had accepted it. They then gave him a back slap for two successful periods as manager and wished him well for the future. All pretty standard I am sure you will all agree before telling us that Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney are coming in on an interim period.

https://www.celticfc.com/news/2025/october/27/brendan-rodgers-leaves-celtic-football-club/

Well that’s that then we all thought but we were wrong. Dermot Desmond who does not own Celtic and is a non executive director puts on his Dictators hat and delivers an assassination of Brendan Rodgers character. Over 500 words battering the former Celtic manager. Is this the correct way to treat a former employee who has brought so much success to the club while hanging out Celtic’s dirty washing in public. Surly Brendan Rodgers has to come out and defend himself!

https://www.celticfc.com/news/2025/october/27/statement-from-dermot-desmond-to-celtic-supporters/

The fallout is a fans protest outside Celtic Park tomorrow night ahead of the home game against Falkirk organised by the Celtic Fans Collective.

 

If the club is to move forward than change is needed at board level and not just in the dugout. Has Dermot the Dictator finished asking for resignations?

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes & host of the Celtic Soul Podcast 

Celtic’s form on the field is poor but we have been here before as recent as Brendan Rodgers first season back. Ange Postecoglou had left for the bright lights of London and the English Premier League. Rodgers return was not universally welcomed among Celtic fans but he won the majority over.

During his first stint at Celtic he could do no wrong until his shock departure. After yesterdays defeat  some Celtic fans are calling for his head after the 3-1 defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle. Is calling for his head deflecting from the Celtic board? who as always remain silent after not backing the manager in two transfer windows.

Adam Idah proved to be a great bit of business when he came in on loan from Norwich in the January transfer window. His league goals against Hibs and Motherwell away from home proved turning points in that season. Then his goal in the Scottish Cup was just the icing on the cake when a League and Cup double was delivered.

Earlier in the season Kilmarnock knocked Celtic out of the League Cup on a sunny August afternoon at Rugby Park. After that game on our way back to Glasgow on the bus we were shell shocked and some fans were not too complimentary about Rodgers while others said he needed time.

He did get things right that season but between poor management of player recruitment by those running the club and injuries to key players he has now a problem. Yesterdays second half performance was a shocker.

The squad is now down to the bare bones and although Adam Idah was not the greatest ever striker to pull on the Celtic jersey his crucial goals during his time at Celtic proves that he is better than what we currently have at the club. Which makes it all the more bizarre why he was sold without a replacement for him or Kyogo lined up.

Failure to qualify for the Champions League seemed to have sealed his departure with the board cashing in on him and recuperating 7 million of his 9 million transfer fee. Celtic are going backwards, the knives are out from the media with Kris Boyd cheerleading from the Sky Sports Studio thankfully Chris Sutton knows where the problem stems from and sacking an under pressure Brendan Rodgers will only deflect from the real problems at the club.

A midweek win over Falkirk will only paper over the cracks ahead of the League Cup semi final against the rangers. We now sit eight points behind Hearts whose fans mocked the huddle yesterday. Sang getting sacked in the morning to the Celtic manager and then celebrated as the team bus left Tynecastle.

If that is not enough to motivate the players ahead of this weeks two crucial games well then its time for them to get off the bus. The January transfer window is now crucial and we need a striker in as a priority. We have plenty of options on the left side of the field but it it is a different story on the right side where major surgery is needed to insure that we don’t relive another Covid season.

At the end of the day football is a results business and if results don’t improve Brendan Rodgers will be sacked as he said a while ago at a press conference. Managers get the sack not members of the board and the last manager the last Celtic manager to get the sack after a poor run of results was Neil Lennon.

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes & Host of the Celtic Soul Podcast 

Celtic take on Hearts at Tynecastle. Click image for Match Day Zine and sign up for our Newsletters.