Martin O’Neill must be pondering his pension as Parkhead silenced after noise of honeygate

That wasn’t the best of weeks for Martin O’Neill. Three defeats in three competitions, two of them by, of all people, Rangers, with an erroneous honeygate scandal thrown in for good measure. It was only recently that he wondered out loud if he was of sound mind when he went back into football management. “I’d like to know what normal life is like again – because this is not normal,” he said. And watching him on that Parkhead sideline on Sunday, he had the look of a fellah pining for permanent pensionhood.If technical areas for managers hadn’t been introduced back in the day, he’d most probably have been prowling the touchline in a marginally demented manner; instead he was like a caged lion inside his square metre enclosure. You could hear a pin drop when Rangers scored, which was largely down to no Rangers fans being in the stadium. That they only scored one goal was up there with the Miracle of Fatima in the mysterious stakes, but Martin dug his heels in post-match when he spoke with Sky’s Luke Shanley and insisted the game was actually very close.READ MOREChris Sutton professed his love for Martin – Martin having been his gaffer in olden times – so he apologised for disagreeing with him. “I can’t actually remember a Celtic team getting such a doing at Celtic Park,” he said.[ ‘I will reflect and see’ - Martin O’Neill considering future at Celtic after Old Firm lossOpens in new window ]Luke hadn’t been brave enough to make this same point to Martin, but he was, perhaps, mindful of honeygate.Lest you missed it, that’s when Martin was a bit tetchy with TNT Sport’s Connie McLaughlin when they had a natter before the Europa League game against Ferencvaros. He was especially irritable when she asked him about his decision to swap goalkeepers.“No, I’ll not talk to you about the thinking behind that,” he said. “Believe it or not, Connie, my job is not actually to explain every single situation to you.”Roy Keane watches Celtic and Rangers on September 20th. Photograph: Craig Foy/SNS Group via Getty Images Need it be said, the entire interweb thought he’d said “believe it or not, honey...”, so he was dubbed a Neanderthal misogynistic oaf, and the like. In defence of the man, when it comes to being tetchy with reporters, and occasionally obnoxious, he’s an equal opportunities kind of man. Just ask Tony O’Donoghue. Anyhow, Roberto De Zerbi could certainly relate to Martin’s current woes. Although it should be pointed out here that Celtic are actually still top of their league table, while Spurs are bottom of theirs, so the comparison has its flaws. Where it stands up is that Roberto was 46 when he took over as Spurs manager in March and he now looks – and no doubt feels – 74. It’s been a trial. And it must have felt like he was in nappies the last time Spurs scored a league goal. Tottenham Hotspur's Italian head coach Roberto De Zerbi. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images Before their game against Aston Villa on Saturday, TNT’s Jules Breach told us the exciting news that the channel had “enhanced access” which would allow us see in to the dressingrooms before the game. It was, to be honest, less exciting than it sounded – our view was much like that from a Ring doorbell camera thingy, and there was no sound. So we just saw lads fiddling with their shin pads and the like. “How do you use the last few minutes before a game,” Jules asked Joe Cole. “You might have to sort something out with your boots,” he said, “you might want to grab a jelly baby ... you might have to go to the toilet, in the nicest possible way.”Armed with that insight, it was time to watch the game in the company of Darren Fletcher and Ally “Absalooly Fletch” McCoist. And the Miracle of Fatima was almost topped. Fletch: “Stop the presses! Tottenham Hotspur have scored!” Ally: “I think he might be offside.”Fletch: “You’re right. Start the presses again.”But, hold your horses, Spurs not only went on to score, they managed the feat twice. True, they lost, but still. Manchester United, meanwhile, have soared to 12th in the table after their draw with Fulham, Gary Neville overwhelmed by their performance. “I’ve watched United since I was five and that’s the worst I’ve ever seen them play – absolutely pathetic.”Come full-time, Nev sounded so weary you sensed he was pining for permanent pensionhood from punditry.