Martin O'Neill spent four days on the floor feeling like he has been hit by a bus in Linz. This time he felt his spirits soar stepping off one.
O'Neill and his Celtic squad were not sure what to expect when they pulled up outside Parkhead ahead of their win over Falkirk. There were the usual thousands of punters outside waiting for them to arrive, but O'Neill feared they might need to run the gauntlet on the back of last Tuesday's woeful Champions League exit to LASK.
Surprise ovation for the squad
He said: "As we got off the bus, the crowd actually cheered us, which was unexpected and something that we probably didn't deserve. So, yeah, I was really pleased."
The response from the fans was noted and Celts hit top gear early on to lift the mood with a crucial win against Falkirk. Camilo Duran pounced on a Scott Bain blunder and then raced to tuck away his second and give Celts the cushion they needed to secure three points, despite Colby Donovan's unfortunate late own goal making things slightly interesting.
O'Neill pleased with response
The win was just what O'Neill and his side needed to ease the Euro hangover. He said: "It's been a tough four days for all of us, and yeah it was a big concern today. Just physically, the 120 minutes, the disappointment of losing and the psychological aspect of all of that there.
"But it was a good response. We missed a lot of great chances to wrap the game up. I always felt that Falkirk were never out of it at 2-0, and so it proved.
"So just to win the game, it was great. I would be disappointed if we had dropped points from the number of chances that we created. But we were on the back foot the last 10 or 15 minutes of the game naturally because of the goal that we conceded."
Fans stick by Celts
The crowd stuck by Celts and there was an ovation for sub Luke McCowan after the playmaker took pelters online after the LASK lashing. O'Neill said: "I don't know where I was at that stage, my head had gone. But that was nice, if that's the case.
"Really nice. But as I said, getting off the bus, the team, we got clapped, which one I wasn't expecting and two, I genuinely didn't think we deserved."
O'Neill was thrilled to get £6m winger Haissem Hassan up and running, but it was Duran who stole the show with a slick double. The boss said: "He was brilliant because he is brilliant. He's a really good player. I'm going to try and learn some proper Spanish so I can have a conversation with him.
"I should have done that years ago, anyway. I always wanted to manage Celta Vigo…"
Defender confident despite Champions League shocker
O'Neill will get to face them in the Europa League and defender Cameron Carter-Vickers is convinced good times are ahead despite the Champions League shocker. The centre back was delighted the punters stayed on board and said: "One hundred percent, that definitely helps us. Even when coming off the bus arriving, there was a good little cheer for the staff and the players, which gave the team that boost and let us know that the fans are behind us.
"I think some of us were probably expecting something different, so it was nice to get that boost before the game.
"It was always going to be tough coming off the game midweek, some of the boys were probably a bit tired physically. We got the three points in the end and probably could have scored more goals, so it's a pretty decent performance.
"If you look at this season as a whole so far, we've been pretty good, apart from a really bad 45 minutes which obviously dampened the mood. It's just about now focusing on the positives and keeping going."
Fitness concerns ahead of hectic period
Carter-Vickers is still rebuilding his fitness after nine months out and there are a few other Celts who are not quite 100 percent. Questions have been asked about the squad fitness with several having interrupted pre-seasons and O'Neill admitted he has got some concerns as well heading into a hectic period of the season.
He said: "We've got to hang in there. We really have got to hang in until these boys get really true fitness, proper fitness. I thought that we had enough problems last season with it, players going down like Kieran, not finishing games.
"We've got to monitor that and we've got to get through these games. I thought that Wednesday night's game against LASK would bring that sort of fitness on because it's a different level again. And then we had the 120 minutes and the disappointment. So I'm pleased to have won today."
