Celtic are in a race against time to reach an agreement for Martin O’Neill’s backroom staff, with some players due back for pre-season on June 26th.
As things stand, Celtic are still yet to agree deals for Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham to stay.
That’s despite the will of Martin O’Neill for his dugout dream team to stay together, after they delivered an unlikely league and cup double last season.
It’s far from ideal for the Hoops to be dealing with this kind of uncertainty with such little time remaining for pre-season.
Another Celtic backroom staff member linked away…
Some Celtic players due back on June 26th for pre-season
Non-international Celtic players are due back at Lennoxtown on June 26th; nine days from now.
International players, involved at the World Cup or otherwise, will return at a later date.
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Celtic’s first pre-season friendly will be against League of Ireland outfit Shelbourne on Tuesday, July 7th at Tolka Park in Dublin,
Exactly a week later, they will play a direct rematch of their 2025 pre-season clash with Sporting CP at Estadio Algarve.
Despite O’Neill being confirmed as the club’s new permanent manager, his two trusted assistants are reportedly in a stand-off with the club after being offered a non-negotiable pay cut.
O’Neill is described as “alarmed” and likely to “fight hard” with the club to reconsider their hardball stance.
A key difference between the two coaches is that Maloney is already contracted with the club for next season; his deal as Player Pathways Manager doesn’t expire until next summer
To further complicate matters, Gavin Strachan is now expected to depart the club for West Brom, giving Celtic another headache in constructing their backroom staff.
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Martin O’Neill on agreeing to stay at Celtic
On the day that his permanent stay was confirmed, O’Neill was asked by Track Radio about his decision to stay.
He said: “The club gave me some time to think about it, probably because of my age as much as anything else, and whether I would have the energy, determination and all those things that go with it.
“Despite the fact that I’ve not been away on holiday yet, you get some sort of rejuvenation, and I kind of feel up to it.
“Time will tell — I must admit, I’m in a better headspace, if there’s such a thing in this life as being in a better headspace.”
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