O’Neill is a manager who is willing to change the plan. That’s why we won.

There is no doubt that yesterday was a great day for Celtic and for Martin O’Neill.

It was a great result and it may prove to have enormous ramifications for the rest of the season.

But it was not a great football performance. In fact, in an attacking sense it was one of the worst performances I can remember from a Celtic side at Ibrox.

That distinction matters. Because in defensive terms it was something very different altogether.

Over 120 minutes Celtic failed to produce a single shot on target. That statistic alone tells you how blunt we were going forward. Yet Celtic still progressed.

And that happened for one reason. Martin O’Neill out-thought the opposition.

What we saw yesterday was an example of genuine tactical flexibility, as I wrote after the game.

On paper Celtic looked like they were playing the usual shape, but in practice the system constantly shifted into a back three.

The adjustment was subtle but decisive.

Their manager had opted for two forwards. That created a central threat which O’Neill clearly identified after studying the previous encounter. So, he solved the problem.

Instead of chasing attacking width, Celtic reinforced the centre of defence. That is why Liam Scales played. It was not a glamorous decision, but it was the correct one.

The shape often slid into a three-man defensive structure, with Scales tucking inside when necessary. That extra protection limited the space their forwards wanted to exploit.

The result was simple. They had the ball. But they had no answers.

For all their possession and territorial advantage, our goalkeeper barely had a meaningful save to make during the entire 120 minutes.

Think about that.

Celtic were the away team. Celtic were missing key players. And yet the opposition created almost nothing of substance. That is not luck. That was tactical control.

O’Neill had clearly analysed where things went wrong in the previous game and corrected them. The defensive structure worked almost perfectly.

Of course, it came with a cost. Celtic’s attacking play suffered badly.

Without McGregor and with limited attacking options on the flanks, the team struggled to build meaningful momentum going forward. The strategy relied heavily on discipline and the possibility of creating something on the break.

We even put the ball in the net once before the flag went up. That moment showed the plan itself was not flawed. It simply lacked attacking execution.

But attacking execution was never the priority yesterday. Survival was. And survival became victory. Because it often does.

When you step back and look at the bigger picture, what O’Neill has achieved in recent weeks is remarkable. A brutal sequence of away games. Constant pressure. A squad missing several important players. Yet Celtic have navigated it with results that keep the title race alive and the Scottish Cup dream intact.

That is the work of a manager squeezing every ounce of value from the squad in front of him. Which inevitably invites comparison with the recent past.

One of the biggest frustrations during the closing stages of Brendan Rodgers’ tenure at Celtic was his refusal to adapt tactically.

Rodgers persisted with the same system even when the players available clearly struggled to execute it. That rigidity became one of the defining criticisms of that period. The puzzling part is that Rodgers has never behaved that way elsewhere. Throughout his career he has shown considerable tactical flexibility.

Which raises an uncomfortable question.

Why did he refuse to change things at Celtic? Was it arrogance? Possibly. Or perhaps it was frustration with the board and the squad he had been given.

Whatever the explanation, the refusal to adapt became one of the factors that ultimately brought his time at the club to an end, and it makes O’Neill’s current approach even more refreshing. He is willing to adjust. He is willing to sacrifice aesthetics for results.

And he understands that different situations demand different solutions.

That will be crucial in the weeks ahead.

Celtic cannot approach the final nine league matches playing the same slow, predictable build-up football that has characterised much of this season. That system is too easy to read.

If we are going to win the title, we will need variation.

Different formations. Different tempos and different ideas. The encouraging thing is that O’Neill clearly understands this.

Yesterday’s performance may have been ugly. It may have required penalties to settle the tie. But it was not luck. It was a carefully constructed tactical plan executed with discipline and intelligence.

Unfortunately, the chaos that followed the match will dominate the headlines, which means O’Neill will probably receive very little credit from the mainstream media.

All the more reason that Celtic supporters should recognise what actually happened.

Because yesterday’s victory was not fortunate.

It was, as I wrote yesterday to much bafflement, a managerial masterclass.

So let’s call it what it is, and don’t let the media narrative dominate the discourse.

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