Heading into the second leg of their Europa League tie against VfB Stuttgart, most Celtic fans would have been happy to avoid a one-sided defeat. They had lost 4-1 in the first leg at Parkhead, and a turnaround seemed very much out of reach. So, the 1-0 win away in Germany has to feel like a major win for Martin O'Neill's side, even though they were knocked out of the competition.

Luke McCowan put Celtic ahead in the very first minute of the match. And fans will be disappointed that they could not find another goal to put the pressure on Stuttgart. If they had done a better job in the first leg, things could have turned out very differently.

It was a good confidence booster heading into this weekend's Ibrox matchup against the Rangers though. A lot of people had been happy enough to write the Hoops off after back-to-back defeats against Stuttgart and Hibernian. The result in Germany was a reminder what they are capable of on their day.

O'Neill has a phenomenal record in derbies as well, and the experience of dealing with the pressure of the fixture. That might come in handy at Ibrox, where Celtic will play twice in the space of a week.

Overall, O'Neill has done a great job with what he has been given. He is expected to leave at the end of the season, when his interim spell ends. Could he make a U-turn and decide to stay on though.

According to CeltsAreHere, when asked about his own future and whether he would consider staying on, O'Neill did not close the door. He said on BBC Sportsound: “Of course. I’ve been given a chance here.

“By the way, the evening has absolutely nothing to do with me. Of course I miss it, absolutely. I’ll miss it until they’re putting a brown lid on top of me.

“I miss the game. I’ve always missed it. And here I’m, in many aspects, in dreamland really.

“Just to be given the opportunity to manage the side here and come. As you said, the first win for the club in German soil, which is nice. That’s bittersweet in that sense because the tie was tough for us because of last week.

“But overall, getting back to it, I miss football and always will.”

It is interesting that O'Neill did not push away the possibility. It remains to be seen how things play out between now and the end of the season.

If O'Neill is successful in guiding Celtic to a Scottish Premiership triumph, there will surely be calls from the supporters to hand him the job on a permanent basis. And while it had seemed like an impossibility not too long ago, it appears that the Northern Irishman might potentially be open to a discussion.

For now, the focus has to be on the rest of the season. Europe is gone, but there is a lot to play for domestically.

There is a tight race between Celtic, Hearts and the Rangers for the league. In the Scottish Cup, they will head to Ibrox next week. A lot might end up being decided over these two visits to their Glasgow rivals. If O'Neill is able to secure victory in both, or at least avoid defeat, the conversation over his permanent stay will start to grow.

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