Martin O'Neill has revealed he hasn't spoken to Jim White since their explosive on-air clash on talkSPORT, following Celtic's dramatic league title win.
The 74-year-old Celtic boss was grilled by his former radio colleague White less than 48 hours after the Hoops snatched top spot from Hearts on the final day of the season. O'Neill defended his club and fans after a pitch invasion following Callum Osmand's 98th-minute winning goal, and disputed claims that Hearts players were assaulted.
O'Neill's account of the bust-up
Asked if he has spoken to White since, O'Neill said: "I haven't spoken to Jim since. But no, not a problem. My problem with Jim was that when the shareholder of Hearts said that one or two players had been hit, Jim didn't progress that as a normal journalist would have done. I think that was the point of saying have you got proof of that? They didn't get hit. They didn't. In fact, if you actually talk about anything happening, I think that one of their players snatched a phone. I mean, there was taunting going on, I agree… and actually smashed his phone on the ground. Did you see that? So there's evidence of that, but there's no evidence of any of the players being hit."
O'Neill also addressed the suggestion that the interview tarnished his title-winning afternoon. He said: "No, no. I know Jim's modus operandi, so I would have expected it. But to say that it tarnished the afternoon... no. It didn't tarnish the afternoon for me. I got great, great pleasure out of the team winning. Great pleasure indeed. One of the great moments of my managerial time. Absolutely."
Pitch invasion and 'missing minute' defended
O'Neill believes the reaction to the pitch invasion was blown out of proportion. He said: "I said this before and it does not change my mind. I asked the question on the third day, how long do you think it took to clear the pitch? And people were saying 20 minutes - it took, two minutes and 50 seconds. The game is essentially over at the end. Yes, I accept the fact that you shouldn't be on the pitch before the end of the game, but I mean, when the voice recorder came through, and Derek said 'Let's end this', I think that put a different perspective on things. It really did. Yeah, so I don't see this. Will there be another pitch invasion between now and the rest of my life? I'm sure there will be."
O'Neill on Derek McInnes and Rangers
O'Neill also commented on Derek McInnes, who led Hearts to within three minutes of the title before moving to Rangers this summer. O'Neill said: "Not very often. I remember, we were talking about an Irish player at the time when he was the manager of Aberdeen and I was the manager of the Republic. I remember having a couple of conversations with him then at that time. I can't say that I know Derek. I think what he did last season with Hearts was absolutely remarkable. Fantastic effort, really. He's gone to perhaps the club that he would be probably affiliated with, you know. I think he'll do great. I think he's an excellent manager. Last season, it's not just been patronising or sycophantic about it. I thought he did brilliantly last year."
