Martin O’Neill has made no secret of the fact that he regards his status as the current Celtic manager as temporary.
After Brendan Rodgers quit Celtic, O’Neill was immediately appointed as the interim Parkhead boss until such time as the club could find a permanent manager.
O’Neill got off to a winning start after he watched Celtic pummel Falkirk at Parkhead as he warmed up for today’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final against Rangers.
However, prior to Celtic beating Falkirk, BBC duo Tom English and Richard Gordon believe that O’Neill is ‘playing a game’ with his comments about getting the top job at the Bhoys permanently.
Tom English is ‘cynical’ about Martin O’Neill’s comments about the Celtic manager’s job
English was casting doubt on what O’Neill has been saying about getting the Celtic job permanently as the BBC man believes that if given the opportunity, the 73-year-old would jump at the chance of getting the position indefinitely.
English told BBC Radio Scotland, “Cynicism is a desperate thing, and nobody should be cynical. But scepticism is healthy, yes, and everything should be run through a sieve, including Martin O’Neill’s words.
“Because I think if you put a two-year contract or a one year contract in front of Martin O’Neill now, he would sign it. That would be my bet.”
Richard Gordon agrees and replied, “I wouldn’t be at all surprised. I’ve been fortunate enough to have worked with Martin. I’ve done a few events with him. And, you know, he’s mellowed.
“I think he’s clearly less wound up, because there was a spell where he could just snap at almost any moment because he was so engrossed in and I think he’s enjoying his life.
“He’s enjoying doing what he’s doing. But like you Tom, I wonder.”
Martin O’Neill is ‘playing a game’ with the Celtic manager’s job
And continuing to explain his theory English says O’Neill would ‘love it’ if he became the next Celtic manager with Richard Gordon saying it would be ‘remarkable’ to see him permanently back in the Parkhead dugout.
English carries on, “I think he’s playing a game here, suspecting, probably rightly, that he’s not going to get the job. So he’s putting that out there, ‘I’m only here for a few days, a few weeks. I got a few weeks now’.
“Might be a few months by the end of tonight, if they win the game. But I’m like, I don’t know. I would be very, very surprised if Martin O’Neill, if he was offered the job even till the end of the season, he’d say, ‘No, I said I was only here for a few days, a few weeks’.
“He would love it. Why wouldn’t he love it? He had a hugely successful time.”
Gordon: “Obviously, there was the horrendous disappointment of those two final day title defeats to Rangers, but that apart just a brilliant time in charge of the club, it’s just remarkable to see him back.”
Would Celtic supporters be happy to see O’Neill back at the club in a full-time capacity? We dare suspect many would after he ended Rangers in the early 2000s and took the club to a major European final.
There would undoubtedly be others who would prefer to see a new name at Celtic and for the club to stop going back to previous managers.
However, there is no doubt that in O’Neill, Celtic are in safe hands as they prepare to take on Rangers at Hampden this afternoon.
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