There is a major update on the Celtic managerial situation and who will get the job this summer.
Who will be the next Celtic manager? That is a question whose answer most fans are hoping to find in the near future. And if reports coming out over the last few days are anything to go by, it might not be far away.
Martin O'Neill did a tremendous job over his two interim spells, guiding a weak squad to a double. He was always expected to step down at the end of the season though.
He is 74 years of age and had pretty much been retired from management before the call from Celtic came. It seems to have given him a newfound motivation though.
O'Neill never really openly ruled out continuing in the job. Instead, he always talked about how he 'expected' things to end this summer.
On the contrary, he mentioned how he had been learning new tactical things and would look to implement them next season, if he was given the chance. That does not sound like someone who has given up on the idea of continuing, that is for sure.
Many fans would like to see O'Neill continue on for at least another season, especially as the managerial pool out there this summer might not be that impressive.
Well, it looks like O'Neill still remains in the mix. According to 67 Hail Hail, Jim White said on talkSPORT:
“Someone not far from me — that’s not Simon [Jordan] — may have had a conversation with Martin last night.
“Martin was arriving back in London last night, and we think today — or certainly tomorrow, but maybe today — is the day he’ll be meeting Mr. Desmond.
“So we’ll know a lot more, but I think, I think, Martin would be the choice of many, many Celtic fans, exactly as Sean has just outlined.
“When it comes to CV, obviously, obviously, Martin, by a country mile, outshines Robbie Keane at this stage. And Robbie has age on his side.”
From everything that has come out in the media over the last few days, it feels like the managerial race is just down to two candidates. One of them is O'Neill. The other is Robbie Keane.
The latter would not be a popular appointment for large sections of the fanbase though. And can the board afford to make that kind of a move, when their relationship with the fans is already in a bad position?
Obviously, Keane has not been in management for as long. But he does have an impressive CV in his own right, having delivered silverware for both clubs he has managed so far.
That being said, O'Neill would be the safer choice, no matter which way you look at it. He is already used to this squad and is beloved in the dressing room and in the stands.
It is also very intriguing what he can achieve if given a stronger squad. While Celtic did win a lot of games under him, for the most part, it felt like the focus was on squeezing out results. We did not see the free-flowing football on many occasions.
Some of the best performances did come in Europe. And getting another chance to manage at that level might actually be what interests O'Neill the most.
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