FROM THE OFFICIAL CELTIC WEBSITE

Martin O'Neill has been awarded "substantial" libel damages from Daily Record over a report which alleged that he had agreed to join Liverpool.

The Record was also forced to publicly apologise to O’Neill for the “great distress and anxiety” caused by the article, published in February of last year, which claimed that the Celtic manager had signed a legal document to replace Gerard Houllier prior to agreeing a new contract at Celtic Park.

Paul Hackney, O'Neill's solicitor, told London's High Court that the allegations had "questioned his loyalty and commitment to Celtic," and were "without foundation."

The Record's solicitor, Patrick Swaffer, told the court that the newspaper accepted that the assertions contained within the report were untrue and apologised to the manager and his family.