"I want to stay here," he said.So did O'Neill, but that chapter is now closed.Goal: Thompson (11) 1-0.Celtic (4-3-1-2): Douglas; Agathe, Bald?Varga, McNamara; Petrov, Lennon, Thompson, (McGready, 86); Sutton; Bellamy, Hartson (Valgaeren, 73). And United hit the crossbar in the final minutes, leaving O'Neill worried another party was going to be pooped. Last weekend Motherwell scored two late goals to beat Celtic and hand the SPL title to Rangers."If [the Motherwell game] had been my final match, I would have hanged myself," O'Neill jested. "At least we had the opportunity to put it right and where better than the Scottish Cup final?"It has been a pretty extraordinary week. It has taken me a bit of time to get over the [Motherwell] defeat and my only regret is that, due to the circumstances, I don't have the chance to try to regain the championship next season."Instead that task will fall to his successor, Gordon Strachan, who holds his first press conference tomorrow and starts work in earnest on Wednesday.

He's been great for Celtic and Scottish football in general."For all Celtic's superiority, not least in Craig Bellamy's rampaging forward, the Cup was not easily secured. Chris Sutton missed a penalty, skying it ?a David Beckham at Euro 2004. As a man who, 20 years earlier to the day, had collected a European Cup winner's medal with Nottingham Forest, he knew what he was talking about. Perhaps because he was leaving, the players felt safe ignoring him."It was something all of the players felt was right," McNamara said. "It was just a small token of our appreciation for what he's done here over the past five years. Substitutes: Knight (Fulham) for Campbell, h-t; P Neville (Manchester United) for Richardson, 58; Defoe (Tottenham) for A Cole, 63; Young (Charlton) for A Johnson, 75.Referee: B Archundia (Mexico).Booked: US Pope; England A Cole.Man of the match: Richardson.Attendance: 47,637.. After five years, seven trophies, near-glory in Europe and, crucially, the rebirth of genuine competitive rivalry at the ?te end of Scottish football, Martin O'Neill took his leave as the manager of Celtic last night.

Substitutes: Bocanegra (Fulham) for Pope, 72; Convey (Reading) for Ralston, 72; Casey (FSV Mainz) for McBride, 81; Simms (DC United) for Dempsey, 90ENGLAND (4-4-2): James (Manchester City); G Johnson (Chelsea), Brown (Manchester United), Campbell (Arsenal), A Cole (Arsenal); J Cole (Chelsea), Jenas (Newcastle United), Carrick (Tottenham), Richardson (Manchester United); A Johnson (Crystal Palace), Smith (Manchester United). England, though, narrowly deserved a win that avenged the 1993 defeat in Foxboro.Goals: Richardson (4) 0-1; Richardson (44) 0-2; Dempsey (79) 1-2.UNITED STATES (4-4-2): Keller (B?sia Moenchengladbach); Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Pope (Real Salt Lake), Gibbs (Feyenoord), Vanney (FC Dallas); Ralston (New England Revolution), Zavagnin (Kansas City Wizards), Donovan (LA Galaxy), Dempsey (New England Revolution); McBride (Fulham), Wolff (Kansas City Wizards). He twice tangled with opponents, though Johnson himself said: "I'm in control and I know what I'm doing," that did not seem the case from afar. Andy Johnson looked short of the requisite class but had a hand in both goals and later drew a good save from Kasey Keller at the near post.James looked uncertain, flapping at a Landon Donovan free-kick which struck the post, but, said Eriksson, will start against Colombia tomorrow Glen Johnson's problem was his temperament. It was thought to be the fastest goal on an England debut since Bill Nicholson scored inside a minute against Portugal in 1951.