MICHAEL O'Neill was linked with the Celtic job in the early summer of 2016 but the Parkhead board have had little cause thus far to regret settling upon another old boy from Star United Boys Club in Ballymena. That team is well-named: not only did it provide the breeding ground for the first man to lead Northern Ireland to a major finals for 31 years, and into the last 16 for good measure, but it was also the proving ground for Brendan Rodgers, the man who is currently re-writing the managerial record books at Celtic Park. As the 44-year-old from Carnlough goes into the fourth Old Firm match of the season, aiming to preserve a domestic record of 33 wins and one draw from their 34 matches to date, O'Neill believes he has raised the bar for all future Parkhead managers to come and feels it is hard to see who will stop Celtic going through the season unbeaten.

"Brendan is a few years younger than me but he was coaching when I was still playing so he has an unbelievable amount of coaching experience," said O'Neill. "He started right at the bottom - at the Reading community coaching programme and that’s a long way from Celtic Park. But he always had that desire to succeed and he still has that.

“It’s amazing what he has done," he added. "I normally go and watch the Northern Ireland players at Parkhead because it is the best test to see the lads. The motivation of the players has been the big difference from what I have seen over the last two or three years and that comes from the manager. To have won so many games is unbelievable. In the law of averages something will go against you but it’s hard to see who will stop Celtic going through the season unbeaten. Brendan has raised the bar, not just at Celtic but for the whole of Scottish football. Whoever goes into the club after him will have a tough job."

Rodgers isn't the only Northern Irish managerial success story currently unfolding in the Scottish game. Neil Lennon, another success at Celtic Park, is making strides to return O'Neill's former club Hibs back to the big time, Tommy Wright's consistency at St Johnstone made him an outside shot for the Rangers gig, while - with a victory in his one game in charge against Kilmarnock - his one-time Northern Ireland youth coach Stephen Robinson seems a pretty fair bet to land the Motherwell job. So much for Scots being the managerial master-race.

“I know Robbo well and I’m delighted to see him back in Scottish football," said O'Neill. "I know how he prepares teams and his work-ethic and if Motherwell offer him the job to the end of the season then he will do well. I don’t know what it is to be honest - we have the three [Northern Irish] lads here and it’s nice to see them all doing well. We don’t have any managers in the top-flight in England. But it’s very difficult to get into England."

That could all end this summer - if speculation suggesting O'Neill could take over as the next permanent manager of Leicester City comes to pass. Brendan Rodgers will also have no shortage of admirers too but back to the matter in hand, and his potential visit to Celtic Park on Sunday to check up on the form of Rangers' Lee Hodson. O'Neill laughs off the suggestion it would be a shock of Northern Ireland Euro 2016 proportions should Rangers win on Sunday, and feels Graeme Murty's side can play with a freedom due to the lack of expectation. Pedro Caixinha, who may be seated nearby him in the stand, will certainly get quickly up to speed on which players are worthy of keeping at the club.

"Rangers haven't exactly been hard done by but at Ibrox they played very well in the opening part of the game," he said. "It just shows you where this Celtic team is that they were able to come back and win. If anyone beats Celtic this season it is a massive shock. But Rangers aren't in a bad position because they are not expected to be in the game. Sometimes that is when you do get the shock. There is no better game for the new guy to watch his players in than an Old Firm game, in terms of finding out about their mentality."

As co-incidence would have it, Celtic versus Rangers isn't the only "massive" game this weekend. Two of his former clubs, Hibs and Dundee United, do battle at Tannadice on Friday, with Ray McKinnon's side knowing chances are running out to eat into the Easter Road side's six-point advantage. "If United don't win then I think they will probably have to accept that their route to the Premier League will come through the play-offs," he said.

**Michael O’Neill MBE and Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald were helping Amputee Football Scotland and Partick Thistle Community Trust reveal their new shirt, proudly supported by McEwan Fraser Legal