Former Celtic assistant John Robertson on Martin O'Neill, Seville and bringing success back to Parkhead - The Big Interview

Those are the words of former Celtic assistant boss John Robertson.

'Robbo', as he is affectionately known, is a football legend in the truest sense and definition of the word.

Robertson achieved footballing immortality long before he joined Celtic as Martin O'Neill's right-hand man in 2000.

He won two European Cups (in 1979 and 1980, including netting the winning goal against Hamburg in the latter), a European Super Cup, an English First Division (1977-78) and two League Cups (1977-78 & 1978-79) for Nottingham Forest under legendary manager Brian Clough.

He also notched a winning goal for Scotland against England at Wembley in 1981 and bagged a memorable free-kick counter for his country against New Zealand during the 1982 World Cup finals in Spain.

Yes, it's fair to say that Roberston has been there, done it and got the T-shirt. 

He could easily and happily have lived off his on-field career for the rest of his life but, since retiring from playing in 1986, Robertson held a guise of football positions.

He was variously chief scout and then assistant manager to former Nottingham Forest team-mate O'Neill at Wycombe Wanderers, Norwich City, Leicester City and then, in the summer of 2000, fate intervened and Celtic came calling.

Robertson, 68, grew up a childhood Rangers fan but had visited Celtic Park on occasion.

He felt that a switch north wouldn't work out for him but it was O'Neill who convinced him that their football management future lay in Glasgow.

It turned out to be one of the best football decisions he ever made.

Yet in true Glasgow humour it didn't take long for a Celtic supporter to remind the two-time European Cup winner that he would only ever be the second best player to hail from his hometown of Viewpark.

"I achieved more than I thought I would ever achieve in football winning two European Cups," said Robertson.

"I always believed that winning the European Cup was for the likes of Ferenc Puskas and Alfredo di Stefano of Real Madrid and Eusebio of Benfica.

"To win two of them was fantastic... but a Celtic supporter once shouted to me going down the tunnel when I was the assistant manager 'Hey Robbo, I love you to bits but you are still only the second-best player to come out of Viewpark!'"

The best, of course, is Lisbon Lion Jimmy Johnstone. Both men were born in Viewpark and Robertson insists that, for once, he didn't mind coming second.

He remains proud to be lauded and mentioned in such esteemed Celtic company.

Robertson said: "When Martin approached me to come to Celtic my first thought was for my family and about how they would settle in. 

"I had been away from Glasgow for a long while. My wife was a Nottingham girl and I worried about that.

"Then I worried about politics and things like that but it was never a problem for me.

"But to get to Celtic was incredible. People couldn’t have been nicer to me. It was the best years of my life in football.

"Celtic are an institution and have magnificent fans. My favourite time of all when I was doing the managerial side of football was the five years I spent at Celtic.

"It was just wonderful. It was absolutely tremendous I never knew how good it was going to be. It was a fantastic experience.

READ MORE: Celtic's epic 6-2 win over Rangers revisited in stunning documentary podcast

"There is no substitute for playing football but being an assistant manager and both myself and Steve Walford are mightily proud of what we helped Martin achieve at Celtic."

Between 2000 and 2005, Robertson and Walford helped the club reach the top at both domestic and European levels and won three league titles, three Scottish Cups and a League Cup as well as reaching a UEFA Cup final.

In the first season alone, O'Neill, Robertson and Walford, Celtic won the domestic treble for the first time since 1969.

During their tenure, the team managed to reach the club's first European final since 1970. They also won 25 league games in a row in 2003-04 as well as amassing an astonishing 77-game unbeaten home streak and seven derby wins on the trot over Rangers.

Robertson admits to being quieter than O'Neill in the dressing room but that the manager valued his input and his influence highly.

"Martin was a great communicator," he said. "He was a cracking boss for Celtic. He was clear and precise when he spoke to people.

"He was honest and he would never shirk from telling people exactly what he thought. He got the utmost respect from the players.

"I was more of a sounding board for the players and I never really said too much in the dressing room. The manager's office was a different story as Martin respected what I had to say.

"We had five unbelievable years at Celtic. Another strength Martin had was that he always knew how to make the team better. Celtic constantly evolved when he was the manager."

Celtic had lost the 1999-2000 title by a whopping 21 points to Dick Advocaat's big-spending Rangers. The team from Glasgow's east end had to show they meant business and quickly.

They duly got their chance when Rangers rode into town on August 27 2000. Celtic 6 Rangers 2.

Robertson insists that it was a life-affirming day in Paradise after experiencing the white-hot heat of the Glasgow derby for the first time and sweeping Rangers aside with ease.

John Robertson, right, and Martin O'Neill jump for joy on the sidelines

"We played Rangers early on in the campaign and, bearing in mind we lost the league by 21 points the season before, we knew we had to hit the ground running," he said.

"We absolutely battered them that day. That 6-2 game was the laying down of a marker absolutely. It was a wonderful day.

"I left home at 15 and I had never been to a Celtic v Rangers game. It was my first experience of it and it was bloody awesome. 

"The Celtic supporters still talk to me about that match. They refer to it as the 'Demolition derby'."

Chris Sutton, unfairly labelled a £10 million flop after a £6 million summer move from Chelsea, helped himself to a brace as did the King of Kings Henrik Larsson.

Robertson added: "Martin bought Chris in from Chelsea and he was a pivotal and brilliant player for Celtic. It was the best £6 million the club ever spent."

The Hoops clinched the domestic treble in the new management's inaugural season and become the first team to do since Jock Stein achieved the feat in 1969.

A second successive title followed before Celtic embark on a memorable campaign in 2003 which took them all the way to the UEFA cup final in Seville.

They lost gallantly in extra-time to Jose Mourinho's Porto (who would go on to win the Champions League the very next season) as not even a super-human effort from Larsson could land Celtic the trophy.

Robertson looks back on the journey fondly and recalls how O'Neill's inspirational words of wisdom to his troops in the quarter-final against Liverpool at Anfield have entered Celtic folklore.

On the continent, Celtic's name and European reputation grew as the likes of AC Milan, Porto, Juventus, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Lyon all come to Glasgow and leave without a win.

Robertson believes that it was O'Neill's unique way of handling Celtic's big-game players and his main dressing room personalities which were second to none and provided the blueprint for success.

Robertson said: "We had players like Larsson, Paul Lambert, Sutton, Neil Lennon, Alan Thompson, Stiliyan Petrov, John Hartson, and big Bobo Balde all buying into what Martin was selling.

"They totally believed in what Martin was saying. You can't really tell players who are wonderfully gifted footballers anything new, can you? 

"It's an insult to those players to think that you can tell them how to play football. What you can do is let them express themselves.

READ MORE: Facing Henrik Larsson: Seven defenders he tormented open up on failing to stop the King of Kings

"Martin just give all those players room to breathe as they were all tremendous influences in the dressing room and inspirational to other team-mates.

"You can point things out to them in a way that doesn't involve screaming and shouting and that is what we did with this Celtic team. That's how we got a tune out of them on the big stage so often.

"We were brilliant the night at Anfield when we knocked Liverpool out of the UEFA cup. That was the night Martin really came into his own.

"His team talk was superb and it made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. I knew just by looking at the players that Celtic wasn't going to lose that game.

"I have no qualms or doubts that our team would have competed for the top four spots in England. They were that good.

"They were an outstanding team and went toe-to-toe with the best that European football had to offer - and I mean the best.

"We were one of the first teams not to qualify from their Champions League group with nine points after we won our three at home but could not get anything away.

"Although getting to the UEFA Cup final in Seville in 2003 says it all really, doesn't it? It was Celtic's first European final in 33 years.

"It was a great experience and we were so unfortunate to lose to a team that went on to win the Champions League the following season.

"That gives you an indication of the quality of European opposition Celtic were up against back then."

The O'Neill-Robertson-Walford triumvirate still sports the highest winning percentage rate of any Celtic management team: a whopping 75.5 per cent win ratio.

"My brother-in-law, who was a massive Celtic fan, would constantly tell me that Celtic Park was a magical, mythical and wonderful place," said Robertson. "He was right.

"I got to experience it for myself in the company of some wonderfully gifted football players as well as an equally brilliant manager.

"I felt extremely lucky to have had a ringside seat for the whole Celtic experience. I wouldn't change my five years at Celtic for the world."

It was O'Neill who stood on the steps of Celtic Park on the day he was unveiled as the manager and famously uttered the words "I will do everything I possibly can to bring some success to this football club".

Robertson helped him do just that - and then some.