'Happier' Celtic pick back up where they left off under O'Neill

There may be some Celtic fans waking up in the next few days and wondering if the chaotic, potentially ruinous 33-day tenure of Wilfried Nancy was just a bad dream.

In early December, Martin O'Neill presided over a functional 1-0 defeat of Dundee at Celtic Park. It was the last game of his previous interim stewardship. It was also the last time they stopped the opposition scoring.

Until the Northern Irishman's second return, that is. Saturday, in his first game back after replacing Nancy, O'Neill oversaw a largely untroubled four-goal dismantling of a meek Dundee United.

It was O'Neill's 20th win over the Tannadice outfit, keeping his 100% career record against them intact.

He now has eight wins from nine matches across his two spells in charge of Celtic this season. And his calming influence is clear for all to see as the players picked up where they left off under his stewardship.

For them, it was not just a return to form but a return of confidence, as O'Neill suggested to BBC Sport Scotland afterwards.

"It was delightful," he said. "We played really well and won quite convincingly.

"The players have to do the playing and it's been a strange old week. I've come back in again - perhaps to haunt them as much as anything else - but the players did brilliantly, absolutely brilliantly.

"The crowd were magnificent. Even moments when we were poor they kept with us. Today was great, there was a nice atmosphere. Now, being in a dogfight for the championship, we need the crowd behind us.

"It was all about winning but the performance was terrific - I don't think I should overlook that. We played really well, got confidence back and it was lovely to win."

In the 'dogfight' for the title the manager identifies, Celtic have their own veteran of such combats back in O'Neill.

With Liam Scales restored to the centre of defence, they looked organised and compact at the back, where previously they were porous in the extreme.

O'Neill placed round pegs in round holes against United, and the result?

Four different goal scorers, wingers in Yang Hyun-jun and Sebastian Tounekti who didn't have to worry about being the last line of defence, and a midfield which provided control and the decisive second goal through Arne Engels.

No wonder those observing were full of compliments.

"They dominated totally from start to finish," former Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner said on Sportsound.

"It was a lot more controlled in possession, very different to under Wilfried Nancy where it was very energetic, big intensity, creating chances and not taking them.

"It looked to me they were much happier in the formation and the positions they were playing. They controlled the game, they knew what they were doing and there was no confusion.

"The crowd were very appreciative of Martin being back. It sets them up for a run of four away games and it couldn't be better."

It all makes the decision to dispense with the services of O'Neill and his next generation of Celtic coaches in early December all the more senseless.

The chaos of the Nancy days and those calamitous eight matches in charge were replaced with a sense of business as usual.

A solid-looking back four, with Scales mopping up any slips from his defensive partner Auston Trusty and Kieran Tierney and new boy Julian Araujo patrolling the flanks.

Back from the Africa Cup of Nations, Tunisian winger Tounekti looked dangerous down the left, while the new lease of life enjoyed by Yang shows no signs of letting up under O'Neill.

If there were any psychological scars from the six defeats suffered under Nancy's brief stewardship, this win may have gone a long way to wiping them away.

Celtic's home comforts need to be dispensed with now, though.

They have a challenging series of matches away from home, including a a difficult assignment at high-flying Falkirk, a treacherous-looking trip to Bologna and a meeting with league leaders Hearts.

You'd back O'Neill to take it all in his stride though.

He needs some help from the recruitment department if he's to maintain Celtic's stranglehold on the Premiership title.

Still, the evidence so far this season would suggest he's not just up for the challenge but confident he can finish what he's started.