Even with the noise shaking the old main stand at Celtic Park to its foundations, there wasn’t a scintilla of a chance that Martin O’Neill would be dragged down the road of discussing the prospect of a final-day shoot-out against Hearts.
Not with a midweek game still to come. Not when that engagement sees his Celtic side travel to a venue which still causes him flashbacks in the middle of the night.
Across his two spells in charge this season, the only Premiership grounds which the Northern Irishman hasn’t taken a team at are Almondvale and Fir Park. In the case of the latter, you suspect O’Neill would prefer for it to stay that way.
Almost 21 years on, the way his side blew what would have been a fourth title in five years on his watch remains a sore point.
A goal ahead on the final day of the season through Chris Sutton but unable to put the killer second past an inspired Gordon Marshall, news of Rangers going ahead at Easter Road ratcheted up the tension.
As has been often recalled, Scott McDonald stunned the visitors with an equaliser with two minutes remaining then knocked them to the floor with another goal 120 seconds later.
Scott McDonald turns to volley home one of the Scottish top flight’s most iconic goals
Almost a season’s worth of toil to get into a promising position only to lose out at the last.
‘That game will go down as my absolute nemesis,’ O’Neill later reflected. ‘I can’t blame anyone else. I blame ourselves. We missed chances and Marshall was brilliant. I will never get over it.’
The same might be said of the wider Celtic support. They’ve seen their team play at Fir Park 33 times since that day. There have been 24 victories, six draws and just three defeats. An impressive record. Still the mental scar remains.
O’Neill’s been back at the scene of the crime this season to watch Motherwell and other future opponents. But he’s not set foot in the visiting dressing room again. It will be a strange experience come Wednesday.
Little wonder he refused to get ahead of himself after his side’s 3-1 win over Rangers reduced the field in the race by one. He has a ghost to exorcise before he can even contemplate taking on Hearts.
Back then, with Motherwell secure in the top-half of the table but unable to finish any higher than sixth, the assumption of many neutral observers was that the minds of Terry Butcher’s side would already be on the beaches. Not so.
Martin O’Neill was left distraught as Celtic saw the title snatched away on Helicopter Sunday
This time around, there’s not a chance that O’Neill’s current side will take anything for granted.
Under the hugely impressive Jens Berthel Askou, the Steelmen have taken a grip of fourth place in style.
With Hibs taking on a demoralised Rangers at Ibrox the same night, only a win for the Lanarkshire side guarantees them finishing in their current place ahead of Saturday’s potentially awkward visit to Easter Road.
European football is on the line for the Steelmen. They could not have a bigger incentive.
O’Neill was back home in England when Celtic last went to Fir Park on December 30. He’d done a fine job of steadying the ship after the board spectacularly fell out with Brendan Rodgers, but all roads still led them to the door of Wilfried Nancy.
The Frenchman lost his first four matches then beat Aberdeen and Livingston. But any semblance of a revival ended abruptly that remarkable night at Motherwell.
Celtic goalkeeper Rab Douglas dives full stretch but can’t get a glove to McDonald’s strike
In what was to be Nancy’s penultimate match as manager, Askou’s side played them off the park. It was a travesty that the winning margin was only two goals. It could have been anything.
With just one win in their last eight, Motherwell’s form isn’t quite as hot as it was around the turn of the year, but they still have it in them. And if they turn it on as they know they can, Celtic could be in for an extremely difficult night.
This, potentially, was always going to be the most treacherous assignment of the post-split fixtures for O’Neill’s men.
They had home advantage on Sunday against a Rangers side which looked favourites for the flag four weeks ago only to go weak at the knees.
Another capacity crowd awaits when Derek McInnes’ men come to town at lunchtime on Saturday.
That game will be momentous — but only if a Celtic win can still deny Hearts at the last. It won’t count for a great deal if Hearts beat Falkirk, as you suspect they will, and O’Neill’s men lose on the same evening. In that case, the race is already over.
Motherwell famously beat Wilfried Nancy’s Celtic 2-0 at Fir Park back in December
Celtic have done admirably to win the last five league games and match the best sequence they enjoyed under O’Neill in early winter.
Assignment number seven only becomes relevant if they first take care of number six.
The manager will be concerned that his players will experience an adrenaline crash after beating Rangers in such dramatic circumstances.
No matter how they play out, there’s a physical and mental toll to playing in Old Firm games. Just as it’s difficult to suppress the joy which comes with coming out on the right side of one, a natural low inevitably follows.
O’Neill and his backroom staff have a job on their hands to get the players back in the right headspace come kick-off.
He’ll be encouraged by what he’s seen since the international break. The returns of Alistair Johnston and Arne Engels.
Kieran Tierney looking back to his best alongside Callum McGregor, who now appears to be injury-free.
Hyun-jun Yang scored and was excellent against Rangers on both flanks. Seb Tounekti had his most productive 45 minutes in a Celtic jersey when he came on at half-time.
Since starting the loss at Tannadice, Kelechi Iheanacho has come off the bench in six league and cup games. The nine minutes he was afforded against Rangers was his most fleeting appearance, but he could do half an hour if called upon.
Then there’s Daizen Maeda. A complete enigma of a footballer, the Japanese went 17 games without a goal at one point this season.
Celtic striker Craig Bellamy is distraught as the Parkhead men lose the title on the final day
On the back of failing to get a move to Wolfsburg, it seemed that the force of nature who’d helped himself to 31 goals last season had left the building. What did we know?
Maeda scored in the Scottish Cup semi-final against St Mirren, grabbed two against Falkirk then hit the opener at Easter Road.
His brace against Rangers instantly elevated his status among fans from mere hero to cult hero. An overhead kick to take the game away from Rangers was simply outrageous, drawing comparisons with Henrik Larsson’s iconic chip over Stefan Klos back in 2000.
From a seemingly hopeless position in March, Celtic now have reason to feel good about themselves again.
They evidently have the wherewithal to pull off something of a sporting heist but equally could be one bad night away — perhaps even a few madcap minutes — from their hopes of another title going up in smoke.
O’Neill is the last person who’ll need reminded of that.
