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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Joe Donnelly

Martin O'Neill on 'paranoia' inspired by leaks & why he picked team hours before game

Celtic legend Martin O'Neill has weighed in on the issue of leaked team-lines – something current Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers publicly addressed last weekend.

Speaking after his side's thrilling 6-0 win over Aberdeen, Rodgers said people opting to leak team-sheets on social media are not Celtic fans, and are instead harming the club.

Accurate leaks for his sides against Dundee and Aberdeen last week had made their way onto social media beforehand. 

In conversation with Amy Canavan on the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast, O'Neill shared his insights into the matter, recalling a degree of paranoia levied by leaks and how he left team selection until the 11th hour to avoid his own squad's hitting the public domain.

O'Neill said: "One of the reasons that I used to pick the team quite late – maybe if we're kicking off at three o'clock not to have the team picked until half past one – is because players who are disgruntled and not on the side have in times given the opposition side our team.

"When I was manager of Aston Villa, we had a couple of really, really good players [who] used to come in and tell me the night before what the opposition team would be, which was great news. They had some disgruntled companions either at whatever other club that we were playing.

"Generally speaking, they were spot on in their team. Now, I'm not saying it was happening on a regular basis, but on occasions when you felt as if that's nice to know, if that's the case."


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O'Neill added: "I'll tell you what it is, on a more serious note, it becomes disappointing from that viewpoint. That's the point. And when you start to think, well, is it a player giving it? Is it someone else? What's happening to the whole thing? I think that becomes really disappointing if that's the case.

"And sometimes you can become a little bit paranoid about, 'oh, someone's leaking the team,' but in my actual fight, it's not happening. And of course, paranoia and Celtic do not sit together, you know?"

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