BBCFri, November 28, 2025 at 9:05 AM UTC·2 min read"It's been like a time machine and just how I thought it would be," said Luke McCowan of working with Martin O'Neill at Celtic.
"I would have loved to have seen him when he was 20 years younger and probably had more energy and more hunger!"
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThursday's 3-1 Europa League win over Feyenoord in Rotterdam was fifth win in six matches for 73-year-old O'Neill, brought in on a temporary basis following the resignation of Brendan Rodgers.
It ended the club's four-year wait for an away win in Europe and was Celtic's first success in the Netherlands since O'Neill led them to Champions League qualifying success against Ajax in 2001.
"He's amazing," McCowan said. "Just an unbelievable character. The way he talks in the team meetings, it's just brilliant. He just says stuff that is at the top of his mind there and then, and it just breaks the ice within the whole room.
"He's able to take the heat off a serious situation or a serious team talk, he's able to make it fun and light but at the same time tells you that there are demands that come with playing for this club.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"That's the main thing he always pushes. Even right after the game he came in and said, 'Right lads, we're in tomorrow, we've got a game on Sunday'. That was his first message.
"You can tell he's been a top manager and that is why he is so respected.
"His best quality is man-managing people and getting the best out of the crowd that he's got.
"It's just been great seeing the sort of demands he places on everybody, knowing that when you play for Celtic this is what is needed. Then he's just brought that humour with how he is, and it's been great. It's been class."
