Martin confirms the worst about Jota … and Celtic fans should thank him for it.

Last week, as you all know, I put up a post about Jota and the idea that he might be out until November. Martin O’Neill has now confirmed that this is the likely timeline, talking about Halloween as the earliest realistic point at which the player might even have a chance of being in contention for the first team.

Obviously, every Celtic fan wants to see Jota back as quickly as possible. Everyone wants to see him at Lennoxtown, smiling, training, moving freely and looking as if the worst of this nightmare is behind him. Everyone wants the romantic version, where he beats the timeline, comes storming back and looks as if he has never been away.

But the manager is not going to rush him. Not in any way.

What impressed me about Martin’s comments is that he was pragmatic. He even seemed aware that pragmatism can sometimes sound cruel in football, especially when you are talking about a player people love and desperately want to see again. But he did not come across as cruel.

He came across as smart. He came across as honest. He came across as a manager doing exactly what was necessary.

Because what he is really doing is telling the literal truth. He is telling the fans not to get their hopes up too quickly. He is telling the squad that this player has to be fully up to speed before Celtic will risk him. And, most importantly, he is telling Jota himself to take it slow, take it steady and come back only when he is truly ready.

If it sounds as though Martin is damping down expectations that this will be easy or quick, that is because he is. He knows the worst thing he could possibly do is put some false public window on Jota’s return and create pressure around it. The last thing any player coming back from a serious injury needs is a countdown clock hanging over his head.

That is how mistakes happen. That is how players push too hard.

That is how managers end up feeling pressure to put someone into the team because everyone has decided it is time, even if the body is not quite there yet and the mind is still working through all the little fears that come with returning from something serious.

I applaud Martin for his honesty.

This is the sort of communication I wish other people inside Celtic were capable of. Just tell it like it is. Be straight with people. Trust them to understand.

Jota will be back at Lennoxtown. That means there will be media speculation. There will be photographs. There may be clips. The player himself may post things on social media. Supporters will see him in training gear and immediately start counting down the days until he is running at full-backs again.

But none of that means he is close.

Not really.

We are still many months from that, and Martin knows it.

I think we will be lucky to see Jota kick a ball for Celtic before January, if he does at all this season. Celtic have to operate on the assumption that he will not be available for the duration. Martin has more or less said that tonight. He has left alive the possibility of hope, but he is not selling it to us as the likely outcome.

The message is simple: be patient and temper your expectations.

Yes, in some ways that sounds harsh. In some ways, it may sound like Martin is writing Jota off, or suggesting he may not have the fortitude to get back any time soon.

But that is not what he is doing.

This is not about doubting the player’s mentality. Jota clearly has mental strength. He would not have reached the level he has reached without it. But coming back from a serious injury is a far more complicated matter than some people think.

Even with the best will in the world, natural fear is normal. Hesitation is normal. That first twinge in the affected area will matter. That first tackle will matter. That first sprint will matter. That first moment when he has to open up fully and trust his body again will matter.

Will he pull out of things at first? Maybe.

Will he flinch if he feels something? Of course he might.

That is not weakness. That is human.

Getting over that hurdle is one of the most difficult parts of any serious comeback. The body has to heal, but the mind has to catch up with it. Confidence has to be rebuilt one movement at a time. Trust has to return slowly. You do not just wake up one morning and become the player you were before the injury.

Martin knows there are a hundred things that can go wrong here. Any hard horizon he puts on this is likely to become unrealistic in some way. So it is better not to make grand promises. It is better to publicly declare that your plans are proceeding on the basis that the player may not be available.

That is not writing him off. That is not being cruel.

That is not being negative.

That is avoiding a hostage to fortune.

And I can only applaud him for understanding what this moment required: honest communication, hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

Honestly, if more people at Celtic thought in those terms, we would be in a much better place. If more people at this club believed the fans could be trusted with the truth, and if more people understood the importance of alternatives and Plan Bs instead of simply hoping everything goes right, this summer would not have become the interminable nightmare we are all living through right now.

Martin is one hell of an asset to Celtic at the moment.

He speaks like an adult. He thinks like an adult. He understands risk. He understands timing. He understands expectation. He understands that telling people what they want to hear is not the same as telling them what they need to know.

That is leadership.

And it is exactly why the people above him had better not fail him.

Because right now, he is standing there doing the hard part. He is fronting up. He is explaining difficult realities. He is managing expectations. He is taking questions. He is trying to protect players, protect the squad and protect the season.

Meanwhile, far too many of the people above him are hiding.

They are using him as a deflector shield from questions they should be answering themselves. They are letting the manager stand in front of the cameras and carry the weight of a summer which should never have been allowed to become this messy.

That cannot continue.

Martin O’Neill is doing his job.

Now the people above him need to do theirs.

Jota’s recovery should be handled with patience, care and realism. Martin understands that. He has said so plainly. But the rest of the squad cannot be treated with the same passive hope. Celtic cannot just wait for deals to fall into place, wait for the market to move, wait for the right moment and hope it all works out.

Hope is not a plan. Martin seems to know that.

It would be nice if the board did too.

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