The former Sunderland and Nottingham Forest manager could remain at Celtic beyond this term.
Martin O’Neill has not ruled out staying at Celtic beyond this season, as the former Nottingham Forest and Sunderland boss plans talks with the club hierarchy.
The Irishman has been parachuted in as manager twice by the current Premiership champions, who enter Easter weekend third, ahead of a clash with Dundee. Civil war between board and fans has dominated the club this season while poor recruitment and performances have resulted in declining results, as O’Neill looks to clinch title joy, amid adversity.
Managing Sunderland, Aston Villa, Republic of Ireland and Nottingham Forest since leaving his first stint at Celtic in 2005, the veteran gaffer would be open to a role at Parkhead outside the dugout beyond the summer. Talks of this term are set to be held with CEO Michael Nicholson and major shareholder Dermot Desmond.
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Will Martin O’Neill stay at Celtic?
O’Neill said: “They can take my opinion or not, as the case may be. It would only be an opinion. This season has been an eye-opener for us, in every aspect. A real proper sit-down to discuss what happened — and to maybe try and unify the club again — would be fantastic.
“That in itself is a major thing, in terms of who would be in charge. You’re hoping that the recruitment would be so important to try and learn from the things that we didn’t do well this year. I will speak to Michael and Dermot at some stage. I’d think, generally, we would all feel the same about what would be needed to get us back on top.
“Let’s say a new manager was coming in and I’m at the club as an advisor to the board. If I were the new manager, I wouldn’t mind who was on the board, as long as there was a committee for signing players and as long as the manager would have the final say. here has to be affordability, but if the manager has the final say then it could work.
Martin O’Neill on his Celtic future
“Also I believe the manager coming in would be hoping that someone, maybe an old figure like me, would be on his side. If I were stepping in now as a 45-year-old manager, those are the things I’d like. If you’re asking fans about a five-year plan, that’s not working.
“You’ve just seen what’s happened to managers getting six, seven, eight games. Money’s dictating everything now. Recruitment will be very important. Unification of the club would be great, getting people on the same side. It’s not about harking back to my day. But the general feeling was that everybody was together, and that was important. Now, Celtic have had a lot of success and I feel that this idea of taking success for granted should never be at a club.
“Can you change things relatively quick? Yeah, I do believe that. The club should do these things towards the end of every season anyway. But this particular season has been a wake-up call for us all.”
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