Martin O’Neill made it feel like he’d never been away at his Celtic press conference on Tuesday.
He must have been patiently waiting for his phone to ring after Celtic’s 3-1 defeat to Rangers on Saturday which was the final straw for Wilfried Nancy.
Nancy, his coaching staff and head of football operations Paul Tisdale all left on Monday, as the club essentially hit the reset button after a significant downturn in results in December.
O’Neill is now in the door until the end of the season, as a three-way title race takes shape in Scotland.
But at the presser, the conversation inevitably got onto whether this could last beyond his first season.
The first thing I would do if I was on the Celtic board is – – – –
Martin O’Neill on future Celtic plans
O’Neill vowed that he purely saw himself an interim solution when he came in to replace Brendan Rodgers in October.
This looked to be true when Nancy’s appointment was announced… but in the end, only a temporary truth.
READ MORE: Celtic interest in Gary O’Neil revealed as Wilfried Nancy sacking leads to ‘really interesting’ call
Depending on how this spell goes, we could end up finding ourselves in the same position again, where fans are clamouring for the club to halt O’Neill’s inevitable departure.
But when asked about the idea of staying on Tuesday, he gave a brutally honest answer, saying: “I wonder whether I’d have the capacity to carry on.
“Also, I’m 112 in the next birthday, so time is running out for me! I’d like to try and do well. Who knows what the board might think.
“But I’m serious about this, I wouldn’t be thinking beyond the end of the season.
“Like most managers, I need to win some football games. Dermot didn’t say about winning the league.
“My conversations with Dermot don’t last that long. It’s Celtic, we have to fight back after adversity.
“Rangers have closed up alongside us, could go ahead tonight, we’ve got a battle on our hands.”
Celtic are six points behind leaders Hearts in the Scottish Premiership table and level on points with Rangers.
They are also likely to need four points from their remaining two Europa League games to avoid instant elimination.
Tell us your starting XI for Martin O’Neill’s first game back
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