Celtic cannot rush Martin O’Neill back to the dugout because it has no plan.

Martin O’Neill is out of hospital, and that is the only bit of news I really wanted to hear today. Forget football for a minute. Forget transfers, formations, European nights, league tables and all the bloody noise that surrounds Celtic Football Club. Martin O’Neill’s health comes first.

He has been through enough. The man is 74 years old, he has walked back into the madness that is Celtic, and he has taken on a job where the pressure never really stops. Celtic is not exactly a wee Sunday afternoon stroll in the park.

It is pressure from the moment you open your eyes in the morning until the moment you finally manage to close them at night. Now Martin has been advised to rest, so that is exactly what he should do.

If you happen to read this, Martin, then please listen to the people around you. Rest. Do not force yourself, do not try to prove anything to anybody, and do not let anyone at Celtic Park make you feel guilty for putting your own health first.

Most importantly, do not allow the board to dump more pressure onto your shoulders.

Football can wait. Celtic can wait. The next match can wait, the next transfer can wait and everything else can bloody well wait. Your health cannot.

I do not care how desperate Celtic are for leadership, how much the supporters adore you or how much responsibility you feel towards this football club. You are a human being before you are Celtic’s manager, and that should be the first rule written on the walls of Celtic Park.

But now comes the uncomfortable question: what happens next?

Because while I am absolutely delighted Martin is out of hospital, I cannot pretend that everything is fine. It is not.

Celtic cannot simply say, “Martin is back, everything is okay,” and carry on as though nothing happened. What happens if he needs more time? What happens if the doctors tell him he needs to slow down? What happens if he cannot stand on the touchline for ninety minutes or if the pressure becomes too much again?

Those are not dramatic questions. They are obvious ones.

And here is the question Celtic should already be asking: is there another professional manager ready to step in if Martin needs him?

Not somebody dragged from a hat five minutes before kick-off. Not another temporary solution. Not another desperate appointment made because the board suddenly discovers that football requires leadership.

I mean a proper professional contingency plan.

Who is there? Who has been identified? Who is prepared? Who is actually running the football operation if Martin has to step away for a period of time?

Because surely Celtic should already have thought about this.

And if they have not, then I have another question.

What the hell have they been doing?

This is not about replacing Martin O’Neill today. Let me make that crystal clear.

I do not want headlines screaming that Martin is finished, because that is not what I am saying. I do not want Celtic supporters panicking and imagining the worst, and I certainly do not want anybody putting additional pressure on the man.

But Celtic Football Club must have a structure.

A professional club of this size cannot depend entirely on one individual. That is not leadership. That is vulnerability. And Celtic have been vulnerable enough.

People will say “Oh Shaun Maloney will take it …” but there is a reason that prospect fills a lot of our supporters with dismay.

We have seen what happens when the club lacks stability. We have watched managers come and go, seen uncertainty around the football department and watched Celtic lurch from one crisis into another while people sitting comfortably in positions of power somehow manage to look surprised every time something goes wrong.

Now Martin O’Neill’s health has become part of the equation.

That should be the moment when Celtic’s hierarchy stops and asks one very simple question: what is our plan? Not tomorrow. Not next week. Now.

And that brings me to the bigger question which has been sitting in my head like a bloody thundercloud: who is Celtic’s real leader?

I do not mean who wears the captain’s armband. I mean who is actually steering this enormous ship?

Who is making the football decisions? Who is protecting the manager? Who is taking responsibility? Who is standing between Martin O’Neill and the ridiculous pressure that comes with managing Celtic?

And where, exactly, is the board in all of this?

Leadership is not sitting in an office. It is not hiding behind statements or appearing when everything is going wonderfully and disappearing when the shit hits the fan.

Leadership means standing there when everything goes wrong. It means taking responsibility, protecting your manager and understanding that sometimes the most important football decision you can make is telling somebody: “Go home. Rest. We’ll deal with this.”

That is what I want Celtic to do for Martin.

My Ginger Witch spell today is a simple one.

I am not casting it for another striker, another midfielder or another European victory. My spell is for Martin. I want him to put his feet up, switch off his phone, ignore every bloody headline and stop worrying about what Celtic supporters, the board or anyone else thinks.

Because Martin O’Neill has nothing left to prove to Celtic. He already gave this club his heart once. He returned when Celtic needed somebody to pick up the pieces and walked straight back into the fire.

Now, if his body is telling him to slow down, he needs to bloody well listen to it.

Sometimes the strongest thing a person can do is stop.

If Celtic truly cares about Martin O’Neill, then it will make sure he has the time and space to recover properly. But while Martin rests, I will be watching what happens at Celtic Park.

Because this situation has exposed something much bigger than one manager being taken ill. It has exposed the question of succession, structure and leadership.

Celtic cannot afford to be confused. The supporters cannot be left wondering what happens next, the players cannot be left wondering who is in charge, and Martin certainly cannot be expected to carry the entire weight of Celtic Football Club on his shoulders.

So Celtic, I am asking you directly: what is next? Who is your professional back-up? Who is your football leader? Who is protecting Martin?

Who is making the decisions if he needs more time away? If it Maloney then do not mess about; players, fans, everyone at the club deserves to know where authority flows from. If Martin has to take an extended leave then make it clear

Because this is bigger than one man. It is about whether Celtic Football Club has finally learned that chaos is not a strategy. I love this club too much to sit quietly when something does not feel right, and my instincts are screaming again.

This time they are not screaming about football.

They are saying: look after the man. Put his health first. Take the pressure away.

And then, Celtic, get your bloody house in order.

Because Martin O’Neill needs rest, Celtic needs leadership and the supporters need answers. For now, I am sending Martin every good wish I have.

Rest, Martin. Paradise will still be there when you are ready to return; when you are ready, not when it is most convenient. The football will still be there, the madness will still be there and, knowing Celtic, so will the bloody board.

But your health comes first. Every single time.

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