O’Neill turns new leaf and plays it cool at Emirates

MARTIN O’NEILL has changed.

There was a time when the effusive Ulsterman would have celebrated a goal and an unlikely point at Arsenal by leaping from the dug-out and performing an impromptu lap of honour around the stadium.

Instead, O’Neill has returned to football after a 15-month hiatus a mellower, less agitated soul. The celebrations were restrained, his post-match mood philosophical. Then again, if there is one Premiership manager who should retain a healthy perspective on the game’s peaks and troughs, it is O’Neill. The 54-year-old has spent his time away from the game caring for his wife Geraldine, who is battling lymphoma.