Celtic Back O’Neill When He’s Struggling – Where Was This Faith When He Was Winning?

There’s something about the timing of Celtic’s public backing of Martin O’Neill that I find absolutely fascinating.

Three defeats on the bounce. Champions League disappointment already behind us. Ferencváros adding to the European misery. Two defeats against Rangers.

Then Celtic’s annual results arrive and Michael Nicholson says:

“We will now come together and support Martin and the players.”

On the face of it, that’s exactly what you would want to hear from your chief executive.

But I couldn’t help thinking about the irony of it all.

Celtic are publicly backing Martin O’Neill when he’s struggling.

Where was this level of faith when he couldn’t stop winning?

Rewind to the beginning of this absolutely bonkers story.

O’Neill came back as the firefighter. Nobody expected it to become permanent. Celtic needed somebody they trusted to steady the ship and Martin answered the call.

Seven wins from eight followed.

He beat Rangers in the League Cup semi-final and put Celtic into another final.

Then, essentially, it was: cheers Martin, we’ll take it from here.

Wilfried Nancy arrived and O’Neill didn’t even get the opportunity to manage Celtic in the final he’d qualified them for.

I’ve always thought Celtic took the mick a wee bit there.

This wasn’t some caretaker stumbling along until the proper manager arrived. Martin had done virtually everything asked of him.

Celtic wanted something different, though.

They had their new man. Their new direction, their plan of attack all sorted.

Thirty-three days later?

Martin, mate… you busy?

You couldn’t write it.

Back he came to clean up another mess.

This time he went even further, delivering arguably the most unlikely domestic double Celtic have won in years.

A ridiculous 23 wins from 27 domestic matches if my memory serves me right.

The man with the highest win percentage in Celtic had actually improved that record with arguable the worst Celtic side in decades!

Surely now Celtic knew?

Not quite.

Weeks passed after the season finished. Other candidates remained part of the discussion. Only on June 11 did Celtic finally appoint O’Neill permanently.

That’s why Nicholson’s words today feel almost upside down.

When Martin was winning practically every week, Celtic weren’t convinced enough to give him the future.

Now he’s experiencing his first real crisis, they’re telling everybody how much they support him.

Football, eh?

There is, however, another way of looking at Nicholson’s statement, and we should be fair about this.

These comments appeared within Celtic’s annual results.

Have you ever opened a set of company accounts and read:

“The manager’s on a shaky peg and another defeat might finish him”?

Of course you haven’t.

It would be bizarre.

A chief executive is hardly going to use annual accounts to publicly undermine the football manager. Celtic are always going to present stability, unity and confidence in official corporate communication.

So Nicholson’s statement could be significant.

Or, being less romantic about it, it could simply be generic corporate p*sh.

That’s what makes what happens next far more interesting than the statement itself.

O’Neill’s own words after the Rangers defeat weren’t quite as reassuring.

He talked about reflecting, speaking with the board and considering whether he could still turn the situation around.

That creates a strange reversal that I can’t get my head around to be honest.

Usually after three consecutive defeats, supporters wonder whether the manager still has the confidence of his employers.

Perhaps the more interesting question here is whether O’Neill retains the same confidence in the Board.

Remember the “O’Neill ultimatum” I wrote about earlier this summer?

I wasn’t claiming Martin had stormed into Michael Nicholson’s office, launched a chair across the room and demanded Kasper Høgh before lunchtime.

It was my interpretation of what I was seeing and from the odd rumour that I had heard.

Recruitment accelerated. Celtic began spending serious money, briefly.

Later in the window came another fascinating comment.

O’Neill pointed out Celtic were:

“On the plus side in terms of money at this minute.”

After mentioning departures and the reduction in the wage bill, he reiterated:

“So we’re actually in the plus.”

Why was the Celtic manager publicly discussing the transfer balance?

My interpretation was pretty straightforward.

There was still work to be done and Martin knew Celtic had the means to do it.

He was turning the screw without creating a public war with his employers.

Fast-forward to now and Nicholson has publicly stated Celtic support their manager.

If those words genuinely represent the feeling inside the boardroom rather than standard annual-report language, Martin’s position in the next conversation becomes fascinating.

He doesn’t necessarily walk into the room trying to convince Celtic to keep him.

They’ve just told everyone they want him.

Maybe Martin gets to ask what that support actually looks like.

Recruitment?

January investment?

Changes around the football operation?

Greater influence over the decisions affecting his team?

Nobody outside Celtic knows what those conversations will involve.

But history matters here.

Celtic needed O’Neill.

He delivered.

They moved him on.

Thirty-three days later, they needed him again.

He delivered a double.

Still, they took weeks to make him permanent because they wanted to move him on again.

Now Martin is struggling and suddenly Celtic are publicly declaring their support.

This club is driving me up the wall.

Maybe Nicholson’s comments are significant.

Maybe they’re simply the sort of thing every chief executive writes in annual accounts.

We’ll find out through Celtic’s actions rather than their words.

Because after spending so much of the last year deciding whether Martin O’Neill was good enough for Celtic, perhaps the dynamic has finally changed.

Maybe Martin gets to decide whether Celtic are prepared to give him what he needs.

And if Nicholson really does mean what he says about supporting him, Martin might reasonably have one question:

What does that support actually look like?

Keep Your Eyes On The Board.