NafisaMartin O’Neill has admitted he will take time to reflect on his Celtic future after a brutal week ended with another damaging defeat to Rangers.
The Celtic manager watched his side lose 1-0 at home to their Glasgow rivals on Sunday, with Ryan Naderi’s 33rd-minute strike settling a tense Old Firm encounter and handing the champions their first Premiership defeat of the campaign.
The result leaves Celtic sitting at the top of the table, but the mood around the club has changed dramatically in the space of just seven days.
A 3-0 defeat by Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-finals was followed by a 3-1 home loss to Ferencvaros in the Europa League, before Sunday’s latest setback completed a miserable sequence of results.
And with supporters now openly questioning whether O’Neill is still the man capable of turning things around, the veteran manager has admitted that he will use the upcoming international break to consider his position.
His comments have inevitably raised fresh questions about whether Celtic could be approaching another major managerial decision.
O’Neill admits he will reflect on his future
O’Neill did not attempt to dismiss the criticism coming from sections of the Celtic support.
Instead, he acknowledged that supporters were entitled to question him after the recent run of results.
“Well, I think they’re absolutely entitled [to question],” said O’Neill on the supporters. “I mentioned this to you on Friday, absolutely entitled to, of course. And I’m not immune from criticism. Far from it. Absolutely and utterly far from it.
“I think there’s every reason to ask, you know, can you turn this round? Can you change the whole thing? We are, as I said, two points clear, so I have to kind of look at the bigger picture at this minute. But I knew that we were in a big, big fight anyway, with both ourselves, Rangers, and Hearts again, who are far from out of anything.
“It’s a long season ahead. It’s not the first time I’ve been questioned about my managerial time. So, yeah, I’ll have a look at it. I will reflect and see.
“I genuinely will reflect and see. It’s a matter of whether I can help the team. If that’s the case, that’s the manager’s supposed to be able to do that. And, yeah, I will have a look at that there this week.”
That final admission is particularly significant.
O’Neill is not simply talking about improving his team’s performances. He is openly questioning whether he remains capable of providing the solution himself.
And the timing could hardly be more intriguing.
Celtic still have a two-point advantage over Rangers, while Hearts remain involved in the title picture, meaning the season is far from beyond the champions.
But three consecutive defeats in major competitions have created a level of uncertainty that was difficult to imagine only a short time ago.
‘They may well be right’
O’Neill then went even further when discussing the criticism surrounding his age.
The Celtic boss, who is 74, acknowledged that questions over whether he can maintain the required energy and desire are inevitably going to follow him.
“I think that every single time that something crops up, things don’t go so well, age plays a part. And you know what? They may well be right, you know? I’m 110 in two years’ time, so, yeah, that might be a time to wrap it up.
“I will reflect on the games. I’ll obviously speak to the board. And, you never know, they may want to speak to me. But, yeah, I’ll see. I’ve got some time to do that there this week. I got a short break in the summer time. So I will try and get a couple of days away and see how it goes.”
It was a remarkable admission from a manager who only returned to Celtic last year and subsequently guided the club to the Scottish Premiership title.
Rather than committing himself unequivocally to carrying on, O’Neill has left the door open.
His comments do not amount to an announcement that he intends to resign, but they do confirm that his position is something he is prepared to seriously consider.
And there is another person he intends to speak to before reaching any conclusions.
The Celtic board.
O’Neill will speak to the Celtic board
Asked to elaborate on his comments about potentially “wrapping it up”, O’Neill reflected on the extraordinary circumstances surrounding his return to Celtic.
“Well, first of all, let me put it, let me generalise a little bit. First of all, I got an opportunity to come back here last October, which I never thought would ever happen in my life. So I’m really grateful for that.
“And then I get the chance again in January to do it again, second time around and, as it turns out, us winning the league was like … I don’t know. I can’t remember how, when we won the treble away back in 2001, I can’t remember how I felt.
“I must have felt really pretty good about it, but I think that game against Hearts was probably one of the great moments of my managerial time. I’ve had some really, really good moments and I’ve had some pretty poor moments.”
Those memories underline why Sunday’s defeat carries such a different feeling for O’Neill.
He has already experienced one of the greatest moments of his second spell at Celtic by guiding the club to the title.
Yet just months later, he is having to answer questions about whether he can continue.
The international break now gives him something that football rarely provides — time.
Time to step away from the immediate pressure.
Time to assess what has gone wrong.
And time to decide whether he still believes he can reverse the situation.
‘Whether you can still have the energy’
Perhaps the most revealing part of O’Neill’s comments came when he returned to the question of his own motivation.
“But all the time I was still even thinking about, you know, whether you can still have the energy, desire, the things that I say to the boys here every Friday that we talk about. So I’ll have a look at that. We’ll see.”
That leaves Celtic supporters with an uncomfortable question during the international break.
Is Sunday’s defeat simply the latest setback in a long season, or has it forced O’Neill to genuinely reconsider whether his time at Celtic should continue?
For now, the answer remains unclear.
Celtic are still top of the Premiership and only two points separate them from Rangers. O’Neill has not resigned, nor has Celtic indicated that he is being removed.
But the manager himself has admitted that he will reflect, speak to the board and consider whether he can still give the team what it needs.
After three damaging defeats in the space of eight days, the next major decision at Celtic may therefore not be made on the pitch.
It could be made during the international break, with O’Neill himself now openly questioning what comes next.
Nafisa
