Martin O’Neill question lingers as Celtic manager wait goes on

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Celtic fans remain in the dark over the identity of their next permanent manager.

In itself, this doesn’t have to be a bad thing. The club may have quietly agreed their permanent successor to Martin O’Neill with a view to announcing him next week.

But in the vacuum of updates, speculation continues. Saturday’s Scottish Cup final looks set to be Martin O’Neill’s final game in charge; but we’re yet to have a definitive yes or no.

You don’t need to cast your mind further back than 2019 to understand what I’m getting at here.

Should Celtic make a decision on Martin O’Neill’s permanent future before the end of the season?

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Celtic fans await clarity on the next manager

After Brendan Rodgers departed for Leicester City in February 2019, Neil Lennon was hired to replace him on an interim basis. This was a surprise at the time.

An even bigger surprise came when, shortly after winning the Scottish Cup final, he was given the job permanently.

READ MORE: Tony Bloom claims Hearts players ‘assaulted’ in ‘devastating’ Celtic defeat

After this appointment — which infamously took place in the shower area at Hampden — Peter Lawwell proudly stated that the club hadn’t even spoken to other candidates before deciding on Lennon.

This was all well and good when they knew that Lennon would accept the role, but given O’Neill’s vocal (and understandable) reservations about taking the role permanently, surely a backup option should be in place?

Jens Berthel Aksou, widely tipped for the Parkhead role, is now edging closer to joining Toulouse after an official approach was made for the Motherwell boss.

Robbie Keane has been named by some in the media as the frontrunner, as recently as this week. With Ferencvaros’ season now over, he is available to speak to Celtic, should they want to hire him.

On his future, O’Neill told talkSPORT this week: “No, I don’t think anything would be said.

“We’ve got the big Scottish Cup final next Saturday and I don’t think that anything would be discussed [before] then, nor was I expecting it to.

“If you were asking me today, I genuinely wouldn’t have the energy to do it at this moment. I am fairly decent in terms of age. I’m going to see less days than I’ve seen.”