Truth stranger than fiction as O'Neill leads Celtic from hostility to happiness

Truth stranger than fiction as O'Neill leads Celtic from hostility to happinessTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.This video can not be playedFigure caption, Celtic lift Premiership trophy after dramatic final dayByTom EnglishBBC Scotland's chief sports writerPublished8 minutes agoOn a grim Sunday at Tannadice in March, Celtic lost 2-0 to Jim Goodwin's Dundee United, a defeat that put them five points behind Hearts, and two behind Rangers.Martin O'Neill, a strange amalgam of dejection and defiance, didn't mince his words about how wounding the defeat was, but he was strong on all hope not being lost. Celtic, he said, would have to win seven out of seven on the run-in."We disappointed an awful lot of people today," he remarked. "It's been difficult since I've set foot in the place. This is a blow but we're not finished yet."The truth was that O'Neill and Celtic were only getting started. He asked for seven wins on the bounce and, up until Saturday's endgame in Glasgow, he had six. Tense, nervous, only occasionally impressive and frequently a grind, but 18 points from a possible 18 while in chasing mode.It was an illustration of a doggedness that wasn't there in the final weeks of Brendan Rodgers' time and that was embarrassingly absent during the calamitous weeks of Wilfried Nancy's period in charge.Now they've made it 21 points out of 21 and they're champions again. They've hunted down and overtaken a Hearts side that has done very little wrong all season. After walking into a shambles, exiting and then re-entering an even bigger shambles, O'Neill has won 19 of his 23 Premiership games with just two losses.They are not impressive winners but they are worthy winners. They've triumphed on the back of spirit rather than class. They've benefitted from some extremely controversial calls along the way - particularly in recent wee...