Celtic interim boss Martin O’Neill has broken his silence on a ‘shock’ phone call with Dermot Desmond.
O’Neill will take temporary charge of Celtic alongside Shaun Maloney after Brendan Rodgers resigned from the Bhoys late last night.
The legendary Celtic boss was a huge success in his first spell at the club after O’Neill ended Rangers’ dominance in Scottish football in emphatic fashion.
Winning a treble in his first season, O’Neill destroyed Rangers as he shaped Celtic into the club fans have witnessed over the last three decades.
And now that he’s ready to take the hotseat once again, O’Neill has lifted the lid on the telephone conversation with Dermot Desmond that sees the Nothern Irishman become the Celtic manager for the second time in his career.
- READ MORE: Ally McCoist reacts to Jeff Stelling’s bizarre Rangers theory about Brendan Rodgers leaving Celtic
Martin O’Neill admits Celtic job offer from Dermot Desmond was a ‘shock’
O’Neill delivers the timeline of when Desmond contacted him that will give Celtic fans more clarity on the events leading up to Rodgers’ departure from the club.
O’Neill told talkSPORT, “I got a call late afternoon, early evening yesterday from Celtic from Dermot Desmond, and Dermot asked me would I step in because Brendan had resigned from the football club.
“It’s obviously the kind of shock news really as much as anything else. Shocked me as well too.
“But just to step into the breach and just do it on a short-term basis until a permanent manager is appointed.”
Martin O’Neill said Celtic job was ‘difficult to turn down’
At 73, many Celtic supporters would have thought O’Neill’s time in management was over. But it appears that the pull of returning to Paradise was too much to refuse for the legendary boss.
O’Neill added: “A very good point. Like everything else, I took a gasp of breath and thought, is this real or surreal?
“It’s difficult really to turn down somebody who gave you the job in the first place when he had really some great options a way back 25 years ago.
“So from that viewpoint, maybe by the time that I pulled myself off the floor, I probably thought then maybe I should do it.
“I think they were probably stunned by the news that Brendan left and as a consequence, they maybe might be obviously seeking a permanent manager.
“So this is like a short-term, I’m not going to say a fix, but it’s certainly a short-term fit. Whether it’s a fix or not, it’s another thing.”
“Interim does mean that to me. Absolutely. It’s really as simple as that.”
Martin O’Neill hints to what type of long-term manager Celtic are looking for
So O’Neill is here, apparently, just for the short-term so what profile of manager is the Parkhead club looking for?
O’Neill continued, “Celtic are looking for, I would have assumed, a young coach coming in now who has a proven ability and would be wanting to pull the club forward now from their position as it stands.
“That’s how I would view it and I suppose if I was a Celtic fan, I would absolutely see it.”
“I’ve always said to you on our programme that I have to win football matches and that’s no different.
“At Celtic, it’s always been the case. So you have to try and win some football matches. If we can do that, if we can win some football matches and give us a bit of buying time as it were until a new man is appointed.”
With Celtic’s next fixture just over 24 hours away, O’Neill and Maloney won’t have time to catch their collective breath’s as Falkirk visit Paradise tomorrow night.
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