Martin O’Neill has done the hard part for Celtic, and that’s winning the Premiership title.
Now it’s about putting the cherry on top of the cake and winning the Scottish Cup final, with Neil Lennon’s Dunfermline Athletic standing in Celtic’s way this weekend.
If that happens, then talk will ramp up around who will be Celtic’s next manager and whether Martin O’Neill will stay on in Glasgow.
From Chris Sutton’s perspective, he thinks his former manager will demand that there be ‘a lot of change’ if he stays on, and for there to be ‘a fair bit of money’ to spend.
“If Martin stays on, the one thing which he will demand is for there to be a lot of change,” said Sutton.
“I would suspect for Celtic to spend a fair bit of money, because why else would he? I know he has come back twice. But why else would he want to put himself through that again?”
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Chris Sutton, Kris Boyd and Steven Naismith discuss Martin O’Neill’s Celtic future
The one downside to O’Neill returning is that it wouldn’t be a long-term appointment compared to Motherwell boss, Jens Berthel Askou.
But it would still be a popular appointment for obvious reasons.
Other names have been linked, such as Roberto Martinez, but even if he comes in, he will be at the World Cup with Portugal until at least July.
Then you have another target, Robbie Keane, losing the league title in Hungary with Ferencváros, so it’s not exactly rosy in the garden for him.
Either way, Sutton had reservations about O’Neill staying on, telling The Warm-Up that his former boss should ‘take his time to reflect.’
On the other hand, Kris Boyd feels the Scottish champions ‘can’t afford’ to let O’Neill leave, while Steven Naismith thinks it’s more likely he will now stay on.
Sutton: “It will be interesting to see whether Martin has the energy and the desire to go again.
“I have looked at him at times this season, and he has looked absolutely knackered. He is in his mid-70s.”
Kris Boyd: “Celtic can’t afford for Martin O’Neill to go out of this door. They have to find a role for him, somewhere.”
Steven Naismith: “Say Martin O’Neill stays. What are the first steps?”
Boyd: “Striker. It doesn’t matter. You go right back to even poor Celtic teams. They always had a striker, or maybe even two.
“Yes, Celtic have quality when Daizen Maeda goes through that middle. But I think we can all agree that he isn’t a striker. Iheanacho is a good player, but to play 90 minutes is impossible for him.”
Sutton: “I don’t know how many goals they are down this season compared to last season. You can look in virtually every area and think that there are improvements that need to be made.
“If Martin stays on, the one thing which he will demand is for there to be a lot of change. I would suspect for Celtic to spend a fair bit of money, because why else would he? I know he has come back twice. But why else would he want to put himself through that again?”
Boyd: “Does Martin stay or go?”
Naismith: “After the Hearts game, I think there is more chance of him staying than going.”
Sutton: “Same. But I think he should take time to reflect.”
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