Martin O’Neill is about to take charge of his final game as Celtic manager.
Well, we’ve said that before. Sunday’s 2-1 win against Hibs was expected to be his last, until O’Neill revealed before the match that he would remain in charge for Wednesday’s clash with Dundee.
This indicates a delay in the arrival of Wilfried Nancy, who has reportedly been on the brink of the job for a number of weeks.
But given the team’s form during O’Neill’s interim spell, there is debate surrounding whether this is the right time to bring in a manager from MLS, given that his initial run of fixtures would be a baptism of fire.
O’Neill may not be expected to remain in the hotseat, but could he be given an alternative role to continue with the club? Simon Jordan has clarified his stance.
Simon Jordan on Martin O’Neill’s Celtic future
Jordan conducted an interview with O’Neill on Monday, alongside Jim White and Martin Keown.
In it, O’Neill maintained that he expected to see Nancy in the door this week, with his first game being Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash with Hearts.
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Speaking on talkSPORT on Tuesday, Jordan discussed O’Neill’s role at Celtic so far, and what it could become going forward.
“The new manager coming in is perceived to be the future.
“Martin was brought in to hold order, to get some stability back into the football club post-Brendan Rodgers’ departure and observations about what was and what wasn’t, and how it all should be.
“And they always had a plan to replace him with someone who they figured was part of their future.
“Now, there’s a school of thought that says that Martin is a very fit and focused [73] year-old that could’ve actually done that job for a couple of years – well, who knows if Martin would want to do that job for a couple of years.
“We speak to him in the studio, he wants to get into football management. It’s one thing going back in for six weeks, it’s another thing going back in for three years.
“He’s done what he was brought in to do, he’s done what most people would expect Martin O’Neill to do, which is to go in and be sensible, pragmatic, deploy resources based on the local intelligence, which is what he’s done with Shaun Maloney.
“They’ve got some results which, quite frankly, you’d expect Celtic to get anyway, because that’s the way they should be.
“And he goes with his reputation – not that it needs to be enhanced – but reminded.
“He should be director of football, Martin, shouldn’t he? That was the thing that was asked of him yesterday, and he answered it with, ‘I’m not going to stay here for the manager’s job’ – but director of football is what Martin should perhaps be.”
What permanent role would you give Martin O’Neill at Celtic?
Martin O’Neill and Celtic’s football department
Paul Tisdale is Celtic’s current Head of Football Operations, a role which you’d imagine resembles that of a Director of Football.
But the trouble is that we don’t really know what he does. He hasn’t made a single media appearance in his 14 months in the job!
Celtic’s head of scouting, Jay Lefevre, departed for Swansea last month, leaving the club’s staff even more decimated after the departure of three coaches and one analyst who all followed Rodgers out the door.
As the club seeks to plug the gaps in the staff, O’Neill could be a handy person to have around as that process begins.
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