Nigel Reo-Coker had a strong playing career in the Premier League.
The former midfielder played under Celtic hero Martin O’Neill at Aston Villa, including competing in Europe.
That’s when O’Neill, who joined Villa 12 months after leaving Celtic, was at the peak of his powers and one of the best coaches in the world.
Even now, following O’Neill’s return to Celtic, he is still no-nonsense and old school in his ways, as Reo-Coker shared what happened when the two clashed in training at Villa.
Nigel Reo-Coker sitting alongside Martin O'Neill after signing for Aston Villa.
Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images
What happened between Nigel Reo-Coker and Martin O’Neill?
At first, Reo-Coker wanted to squash rumours, from tabloid newspapers at the time, that he and O’Neill were rolling around on the training pitch by saying, ’nobody took no-one to the ground.’
But the hard-hitting midfielder did explain that it was a different generation back then, and it was a simple case of ’two alphas’ colliding, as he told CBS Sports on Paramount+ (06/11/25).
“We had a little disagreement in training,” said Reo-Coker. “He is a strong character. Nobody took no-one to the ground.
“It happens back in my generation. Managers want to assert themselves to let them know that they are the leader of the group.
MORE CELTIC STORIES
“There was a disagreement. He is a manager who has come from the same cloth and dressing room of Brian Clough – they are built a certain way. It’s like when two alphas kind of collide.
“Yeah, the team had respect for him. I will give him credit, he knows how to build a team.
“But again, the problem with football, generations and things have changed – when he managed in that generation, it worked well for him because there was so much pride in ourselves individually. We didn’t need a manager to tell us we played badly. There was always self respect. Pride and big characters.
“There were other things that occurred that haven’t been said yet. Like being told, ‘You aren’t wanted at the club’, then the club tries to dictate or the manager tries to dictate where you should go.”
Reo-Coker on O’Neill at Celtic now…
It started well for O’Neill on his return to Glasgow, including beating Rangers in the League Cup semi-final at Hampden.
But Celtic’s defeat to FC Midtjylland in the Europa League on Thursday was a massive stumbling block.
Despite that, Reo-Coker thinks Celtic have found the perfect balance between having someone like O’Neill to a younger coach in Shaun Maloney.
“I mean, he has got Shaun (Maloney),” added Reo-Coker. “Shaun is a great guy. He has had managerial experiences as well. He did well at Wigan, and stuff. Shaun Maloney was a really good player as well. He’s knowledgeable.
“That’s where you get this generation. Sometimes, when you get the balance right between managers with experience of that old school generation to younger managers. It does work well.
“I look at one team, at the moment. Everton. They have got David Moyes, a really highly regarded manager. He has put Leighton Baines, a player that I played with, who is a really good coach as well. He did the youth system, so he is there, and you get that balance of someone who understands this generation.
“I give him credit. He knows how to build a team. We didn’t always see eye-to-eye.”