MON THE HOOPS

O'Neill thought Dermot was inviting him to a barbecue when the Celtic chief rang as he sat sipping coffee in London. Ten minutes later he was back at the Bhoys

- BY MICHAEL GANNON

MARTIN O'NEILL thought he was getting invited to a Dermot Desmond barbecue when the call came through on Monday.

He didn't for a second imagine he was going to be asked to step back into the fire.

O'Neill's head was left spinning by the SOS from the Parkhead powerhouse and it had barely stopped by the time he was unveiled at Celtic Park yesterday.

The 73-year-old was given 10 minutes to give the Irish tycoon his decision over stepping into the breach in the wake of Brendan Rodgers' dramatic exit.

But less than 24 hours later it was like he was never away.

O'Neill looked somewhere between startled and thrilled to be back at the club when he became a legend following his five-year stint from 2000, where he turned the Hoops into trophy winners and took them to incredible heights in Europe.

And it take a little longer for it all to sink in.

O'Neill was at his quickfire quipping best in the Number Seven suite at Celtic Park and he said: “There I was, minding my own business on the King’s Road in London and then I got the call.

“I had just finished at Talk-Sport and was having a coffee with my wife. The last last time I spoke to Dermot, hed invited me to a barbecue which he was holding in Dublin before the Irish Open Rory Mcllroy won.

“So, that would be quite some months ago. I thought it could be something like that. I thought this would be the last thing on earth, because Dermot never called me when there was other managers around.

“I might have been twiddling my fingers somewhere, I never got a call then. I honestly didn’t think that Id be coming back.