It is 13 years since Martin O’Neill stepped down as Celtic manager.
Gordon Strachan, Tony Mowbray, Neil Lennon, Ronny Deila and Brendan Rodgers have followed the Irishman into the job and provided the fans with players like Shunsuke Nakamura, Kris Commons, Scott Brown, Gary Hooper and Artur Boruc.
Henrik Larsson and Seville are the stuff of folklore but looking from a distance O’Neill sees his old club in great shape with the fans filling the ground again.
Following on from Lennon another Irishman, Rodgers, has got the old place rocking with a new generation of players driving the club towards a historic double treble.
O’Neill will return next month for Brown’s Testimonial Match and is delighted to see the way things have worked out under Rodgers.
“What I have really enjoyed seeing from a distance is the vibrancy and energy that is back at the club,” the Ireland boss told The Evening Times. “The place seems full and there has been a good team on the park for everyone to get behind with a really good way of playing football.
“But what I love about Celtic is the chance to see the guys I worked with at that time. Watching so many of them go on and do well has been really satisfying. I know how much it meant to Neil [Lennon] to get the chance to manage the club and he is doing wonderfully well. Hopefully there will be a chance to catch up with him. I love that.”
O’Neill also revealed that he was interested in signing Brown while he was managing Celtic but held back due to having Lennon, Stan Petrov and Alan Thompson in central midfield.