Celtic are right in the thick of it now. Five Premiership games left, a Scottish Cup final on the horizon, and very little margin for error.
The season has lurched from one phase to another, but it has come down to this.
The semi-final win over St Mirren summed it up. It was flat for long spells, disjointed at times, but when the game opened up in extra time, Celtic found something.
That late burst mattered. It showed there is still life in this group when it counts.
Martin O’Neill has dragged this squad back into contention. In January, they looked miles off it. Now there are just three points in it at the top.
That shift has not happened by accident.
Celtic interim boss Martin O'Neill
Celtic interim manager Martin O’Neill (left) during the William Hill Premiership match at Celtic Park, Glasgow. Picture date: Sunday February 1, 2026.
O’Neill knows exactly what this stage of the season demands. He has been here often enough to understand the tension that creeps in when there is something tangible on the line.
That tension can affect players’ ability to play with absolute freedom, which is why O’Neill has used Mikel Arteta’s title-chasing Arsenal for reference. He said (TCW):
“It’s a reset now. We can park the cup final to the side, it’s lovely to get there, but we park that to the side and just concentrate on this first game, that’s all that matters.
“I would say if you were to ask Mikel Arteta now at this moment about getting players to play with a bit of freedom rather than being tense, that’s very, very difficult to do when you are fighting for something.
“I’ve tried it a thousand times in management, to get players to play with that sort of confidence.”
There is nothing groundbreaking in the message. Focus on the next game, block out the noise, keep it simple. But for Celtic this season, it has been necessary.
Form has swung, confidence has dipped, and the pressure has not gone away. They have had to grind through it more than once.
O’Neill has restored belief. That much is clear.
The question now is whether the players can carry it through the final stretch. They have given themselves a chance. That looked unlikely a few months back.
Now it is about how they handle the moments that decide titles.