EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER 30: Celtic Interim Manager Martin O'Neill during a William Hill Premiership match between Hibernian and Celtic at Easter Road, on November 30, 2025, in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Williamson/SNS Group via Getty Images)
A couple of months ago, as everyone knows, I was pleased to see Martin O’Neill leave Celtic and Wilfried Nancy come in. So why am I tonight just as pleased to see O’Neill return as Nancy departs?
The answer is obvious, and it lies in the experience all of us have had as Celtic supporters since O’Neill first left. My reasons are twofold.
First, this is an interim appointment, and that has been made crystal clear. I have no doubt O’Neill drew that line himself.
Second, and more importantly, what Celtic needs right now is not some magic spell. It needs stability and a steady hand. It needs a man who can walk into that dressing room immediately, no questions asked and reassure everyone simply by being there. O’Neill does not need to tell Callum McGregor or Luke McCowan that everything will be all right. His presence already does that.
I wasn’t as impressed by some of O’Neill’s earlier performances as others were.
We won narrowly, and I didn’t see enough to convince me we had truly turned a corner. The difference now is that the transfer window is open and we have seen what really bad looks like. And having seen it, it’s obvious that O’Neill did far more than marginally improve performances. He restored confidence to players who had lost it.
That confidence disappeared almost instantly when the new manager arrived.
O’Neill would not be the ideal choice in normal circumstances. But these are not normal circumstances. This is a crisis. And crises demand a specific kind of leadership. O’Neill has experience.
He knows the club, the players, the personalities, the fans and the media. He understands the level of expectation that comes with this job. Very few managers do. Perhaps Neil Lennon and a handful of others. It’s only when someone arrives who clearly does not understand these things, and radiates that lack of understanding, that you realise just how vital they are.
I once thanked O’Neill in a piece that referenced Cincinnatus. What I didn’t say then was that Cincinnatus assumed the role of dictator more than once. I avoided the comparison because I didn’t want to overstate the point. Yet here we are. And I’m not dissatisfied with this position at all.
In fact, Celtic is in a markedly better position tonight than we were this morning. I would argue we’re in a better position than we were on 1 January, despite dropping points since then.
We now have clarity for the rest of the season. We have a manager, an assistant and a coaching team who know Celtic, understand the squad’s limitations and know what must be done. They also understand that their job includes positioning the next manager for success, which means rebuilding properly.
That clarity even helps explain January’s business. I criticised the signing of a right-sided attacking player when we didn’t play that system. I suggested the board might already be thinking beyond Nancy. Now that logic makes sense. These people know O’Neill. They owe O’Neill. They cannot hang this man out to dry.
Everyone at this club, from Brian Wilson to the absentee landlord in Ireland, speaks of O’Neill with respect. They cannot use him as a shield to deflect criticism. It won’t work. Protests will continue until executive figures leave.
Michael Nicholson now sits squarely in the crosshairs, and frankly, I don’t know how he continues to show up every day.
But on the pitch, in the dressing room and on the training ground, we finally have the stability we craved. O’Neill can restore belief. He understands the squad’s limits. He has 26 days to address them and to give himself a chance to add another league title to his career. And yes, I think he can do it.
I began today in a cynical mood, convinced the club would remain stuck in the mud and unwilling to show leadership. I was wrong. People inside Celtic Park understood the gravity of the situation and acted on it. I’m glad I can say that, and I’m glad I can give credit where it’s due.
This action doesn’t absolve past mistakes. Those mistakes still disqualify certain people from leading this club. But they recognised what had to be done and they did it. They went to the man best placed to stabilise the situation, and they got him.
We owe Martin O’Neill immense thanks for taking this burden on. Because that’s what it is. He has done it out of genuine affection for Celtic. While others talk about the club’s interests, he consistently acts in them.
What began as a bleak and depressing day has ended positively. Not just positively, but with stability restored.
The club remains in crisis. That’s undeniable. We don’t have a permanent manager. The chairman has resigned. The chief executive hangs by a thread. The club sacked a manager after 33 days and dismissed its head of football operations on the same day.
We know there are 18 games left. We know who will stand in the dugout for them. I feel more confident now than I have in weeks. The responsibility now lies with those still in executive roles to provide the players O’Neill and his staff need to give us the best possible chance of winning this league. That chance is already greater than anything we had under Nancy.
This has been a significant day for Celtic and for this title race. I believe we will look back on it as a turning point in one of the most difficult league campaigns we’ve faced.
I’m particularly pleased to see Shaun Maloney return to the dugout. I was deeply disappointed that Nancy did not appoint him to his staff. His return is a relief. While I would still oppose appointing him as the next permanent manager right now, he has enhanced his prospects enormously. At the very least, he should be considered the outstanding candidate for assistant manager when the next permanent boss is appointed. And I use that phrase deliberately, given how briefly the last one lasted.
Tonight, though, I won’t dwell on negatives. There is real upside to what has happened. We sit six points behind the league leaders after a derby defeat. And still, I stand by this: we are in a better position than we were on 1 January.
We now have what this club needed most. A genuine leader in the dugout. Good people around him. And a transfer window in which to correct what’s lacking. If we get that right, then we can and we will ensure the league flag still flies above Celtic Park at the end of the season.
This has been a good day.
Martin is far from stupid. He wouldn’t have come back unless he was promised QUALITY additions. But… this is the celtic board. There’re promises and there are promises made by those inept liars. I really really hope lightning doesn’t strike 17 times
James – can you please explain your disdain and patronising attitude towards Shaun Maloney? He has more relevant experience than Nancy (who you championed) ever had. He has worked in Scotland, England and on the international stage with Belgium. He clearly “ran the touchline” during O’Neill’s previous interim stint. And yet you disparage him as assistant manager to whoever the next guy might be?
I enjoy your historical references but you seem to have lost track of current events whilst you delve into the past. I expect us to buy the players that Shaun Maloney wants this transfer window and for Shaun to be “blessed” by title-winning MON in the summer as his true successor.
Yep – Welcome Back Our Blessed St.Martin and Shaun and Mark Fotheringham if he’s gonna be there as well !
Utter RELIEF is the overwhelming feeling tonight for sure…
Utter nervousness will be the twitching feeling at Swinecastle and Liebrox tonight for sure…
We can only hope that nervousness eats into Hearts and Sevco !
I agree completly, total relief that Nancy has gone. He was NEVER gonna work. A bit of due diligence and he would never have been hired. Tisdale, good riddance, he gave his mate mate the job. MN hasto go for being a compicit immbesile. We should,ve kept MO and SM til the summer and given them back up in January. Biggerst concer is still the board. MO cancelled shows in January 2 weeks ago so the board had obviously spoken to him at that point. So why oh why did they allow Nancy to carry on for another 2 games which were always gonna be difficult. No disrespect to Nancy either though. He just wasn,t good enough, should never have been given the position but you can,t blame him for accepting it.
If we wanted to mount a serious title challenge this year then we couldnt have picked a better person. He knows every bit of our DNA and what buttons to push to get us on board. More importantly he will know what buttons to push to get the players performing again. His first focus will be to give the players confidence. Coming back alone will do that. The tactics will change. We will be harder to beat. Much harder. If we are losing we have a manager who has few equals at half time team talks to change things. He is also a nightmare for every other team in the league. They know we have a serious operator in the dugout.
If he is smart he has asked for assurances on signings in Jan window. Hopefully we will bring in a goalscoring striker, an experienced central.midfielder and a right sided centre back. No.projects. No gems. Loans maybe, as long as they can hit the ground running.
Martins style of football: direct, long ball, long pass, aggressive and in your face, less focus on sterile possession and more on getting the ball forward is back in vogue and the right players coming in can kick start the second half of the season.
Putting aside the board issues, Im excited now.
Agree PatC on the necessary additions – let’s not forget that we squeezed through some games
with MON only a few weeks ago. Jota could be a big plus (if comes back fit) but desperate need for reinforcements as you identify.
My concern is that this somehow gives Schmeichel a second chance – he needs to be deposed to #2.
Leadership changes — hopefully it wi8ll extend to the onfield leadership as well.
DD vs MON — so much respect that the Irish Raj brought in Brian Quinn to keep him on a short leash when the original motoring analogy towards our footballing ambitions was first raised.
Transfer window — hopefully not more life in the slow lane.
The whole episode smacks of desperation.
MON struggled to come to terms with the ability that Osmand was starting to show so hopefully when the reinforcements arrive it will not be a few overpaid old sweats looking for a quick payday.
Plus we have at least two big players who have checked out.
Three if you include Bernardo who never got out of U21 mode.
GK — Change needed ASAP.
Defence — Talent / experience / footballing ability needed in equal measure.
Ralston / Scales / Tierney don’t have the footballing ability.
Plus Trusty needs support / re-programming in equal measure.
Midfield needs graft and a work ethic.
If CMcG is getting a call from Arabia then everybody will be happy.
Yang looks good.
Tournetki needs work and support.
Forrest needs binned.
Jota needs a miracle.
We need a striker of some repute.
Plus some real effort applied to the B team.
Three from the SPL would be a good start.
We are desperate and the smaller the risk the better.
Plus close tabs on the Motherwell manager.
Miracles from Maloney apart he should be in pole position.
Old “New blokes” failures / big losses — how many brain farts / howlers / shockers from our team were involved?
Schmeichel — one a game?
At least it wasn’t Neil Lennon.
No showers involved so we are learning.
I think as well as MON picking the players up again, they’ll get a great boost of confidence just by returning to their natural positions.
There’s a slight worry that MON can’t continue as he was doing, scraping through matches, throughout an entire season, however that can hopefully be rectified by making the right signings in this window.
A final thought- if the stories are true that Tisdale got his gig through a meeting at a social event with DD, then the other major shareholders must be be furious and in a position to challenge his authority. More interesting by the day I think.
Hugely important he’s given the money tae bring in players.
I’m sure we’ll get a reaction from the players against Dundee United and who knows, maybe even a clean sheet! But this is a massive window, there are big problems in this squad and we need quality additions, guys capable of being our best player. We’ve got a fighting chance now at least.
You wont get clean sheets from a keeper who cant get his left sholder above parrallel
The frivolent talk of Mon’s previous short time in charge describing some victories as squeezing or scraping through does not do him justice, for at the time he brought stability to an underperforming team and got them believing in themselves again. I will gladly accept a one goal victory any day of the week as things progress, for it is they games that ultimately win League Titles.
That’s very true Johnny. My thought process was based on previous title winning teams mostly performing well every week but still managing to win even when not at their best. Celtic will now have to win just about every game from now till the end of the season, so I think will need to sign reinforcements to help Martin and his staff achieve that.