13 November 2014; Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill, left and Robbie Keane speaking to the press ahead of their UEFA EURO 2016 Championship Qualifer Group D game against Scotland on Friday. Republic of Ireland Press Conference, Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland. Picture credit: David Maher / SPORTSFILE (Photo by Sportsfile/Corbis/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
Twelve days after winning the Scottish Cup Martin O’Neill is reported to be weighing up whether he wants to become the permanent manager of Celtic.
The Irishman twice came in as interim boss last season. A nine match winning run sealed a domestic double that few would have predicted at the turn of the year
David Friel has provided the update.
The Sun reporter is one of a small clutch of reporters that have a track record of very accurate news from inside Celtic
In February 2021 he broke the news that Neil Lennon was no longer manager a full 10 hours before the Stock Market announcement.
Only a very small group of people were in on the decision to remove Lennon.
This morning Friel reported:
CELTIC remain in talks with Martin O’Neill and Robbie Keane over the vacant managerial position.
Bothmenhave spoken with Hoops supremo Dermot Desmond in the last 72 hours.
O’Neill, 74, has been weighing up whether he would want to take charge permanently after guiding Celts to a stunning Double.
But former Republic of Ireland captain Keane has been a leading contender for the job for months.
SunSport revealed this week it was a straight fight between the two, with Desmond personally leading discussions.
O’Neill’s view seems critical.
Over recent months he never committed to walking away at the end of the season- or to wanting to continue.
Had he wanted to leave the perfect stage would have been a day or two after the Scottish Cup Final.
Having not taken that decision it seems reasonable to assume that he wants to continue. But only with guarantees over certain demands about what is needed to strengthen the squad.
CELTIC WAITING ON O’NEILL DECISION
If O’Neill isn’t to continue as manager it might be awkward to have him at the club in some sort of consultancy role.
What does seem clear is that the process is being led by Dermot Desmond. CEO Michael Nicholson is barely mentioned in updates about the managerial search.
Time is starting to move against Celtic. The SPFL starts in less than two months. On August 19 and 26 they face a Champions League Play Off.
There has been uncertainty at the club since Brendan Rodgers resigned.
A permanent manager with an in-depth knowledge of the current squad is urgently needed.
The World Cup will soon provide a media distraction but Celtic fans have their minds on a new manager with the delay becoming aserious concern.
Nicholson we are too big a club to have a man with such a low profile
cfc (calamity fitba club ) again
F off robbie
These guys running our club are clueless wait wait wait if desmond had club at heart he would park everything he does to sort manager n get signings in before its last season all over again of he thinks the fans turned against them then wow they no idea what will happen if they muck up again
Thank F*ck that Lucan has apparently no involvement after the tragedy that was Nancy Boy…
But it does beg the question…
WHAT IN THE ACTUAL F*CK DOES HE ACTUALLY DO TO EARN HIS £17,000 PER WEEK !
He gives the Chauffeur something to do. Can’t have the plebs sitting about doing SFA and collecting a salary. That’s a (Mis)Management function.
It’s that time of year again …the Circus is in town and will be around for a while longer than usual ! By the time a new head coach and new recruits are in the door most Celtic fans will have full grown beards ! If you remember when big Ange arrived he had 3 new guys bought in the first 2 weeks of his wonderful first season …with plenty more to follow ? What is wrong with this board that they cannot learn lessons from previous winning campaigns yet run the club as if they are the saviours and heroes and everything would crumble into failure without them ?
Think the only reason Martin would carry on would be to have a shot at European football again, he certainly carries more leeway with the board than Keane would.
Since Nancy’s departure we have needed a new manager. Why wait till now to interview Martin and Rabbi Keane? We need someone who can change the whole youth set-up and bring sustained change – new signings and structure. I love Martin but he not Celtic’s future but I would not reject him either out of respect. Rabbi Keane not for me. He could barely bring himself to reference Celtic in his managerial journey and happy to remain strangers.