Martin O'Neill and Celtic chiefs hit a major crossroads as club ponders future

A week on from nabbing the Premiership title from under Hearts’ noses, Celtic were celebrating a domestic double after overcoming Dunfermline Athletic 3-1 to win the Scottish Cup. Such a scenario appeared improbable just a few months ago.

It is why the hot topic of conversation within the Parkhead corridors of power right now is O’Neill’s future. It was largely expected that the Scottish Cup final would be his swansong, a farewell to his adoring masses. But the mood has shifted. The 74-year-old Northern Irishman could yet remain as Celtic manager for next season.

Nobody was ruling it out at Hampden after the victory. O’Neill was quizzed on it by numerous journalists and he offered up that talks are expected with major shareholder and powerbroker Dermot Desmond in the coming days. “I’ll have to have a think and I think in the next week I’ll meet up with the owner and see what he’s saying,” said O’Neill.

Clearly, winning two trophies has strengthened the case for O’Neill to remain in post. Already a hero in the eyes of many Celtic supporters, there are now calls for a statue to be erected in his honour. Some would just take seeing the Northern Irishman, tracksuit trousers tucked into his socks, back in the dugout for the start of the 2026/27 campaign when Celtic unfurl their title flag.

Alas, it is not as simple as that. O’Neill, Desmond and the Celtic board have much to ponder on this matter. There is an argument that it would be churlish not to give O’Neill the opportunity to accept or reject the job given what he has achieved. The stakes are too high for it to boil down to emotion.

Two pieces of silverware have been added to Celtic’s bulging trophy cabinet, but that doesn’t change the fact that Celtic, as a club, need an overhaul from top to bottom. O’Neill has worked wonders by getting the team back on an even keel after the departure as manager of Brendan Rodgers and then the disastrous 33-day reign of Wilfried Nancy. But before either of those episodes, deep-rooted issues had set in and - by in large - still remain.

O’Neill has often joked that the modern game is not for him, that he is too old to be a permanent football manager. He is a grandfather, and before the first Celtic SOS call last October, he was supping coffee in London and letting his wife enjoy her art classes in peace. His life has been turned upside down since.

And while O’Neill has enjoyed parts of it, there have been times where it has clearly taken a physical and emotional toll. He will definitely welcome a break over the next few days and his biggest decision has to be whether he has the energy to lead a Celtic rebuild.

Celtic’s rebuild is substantial

Taking on next season would be a whole different ballgame for O’Neill. There would be pre-season, a Champions League play-off and a huge squad overhaul. Celtic are in dire need of fresh blood, and are set to lose some of their key players - chiefly talisman Daizen Maeda, with the Japanese forward already making it clear that he wants out.

The likes of Arne Engels - like Maeda, a goalscorer on Saturday - could follow. Loanees will return. A new goalkeeper is required to compete with Viljami Sinisalo. Celtic are light up front and unlike previous seasons, they cannot fail to land a fit and firing No 9.

O’Neill has admitted on more than one occasion that he has kept tinkering to a minimum during his tenures. Celtic have played the same system as they did under Rodgers, one the current squad are comfortable with. The football under O’Neill was far from pretty, the defence far from watertight, but they got the job done. So much of the tactical work would have been undertaken by assistants Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham. O’Neill’s forte is man-management and motivation, but he would surely put a larger stamp of his on the team should he get next season.

The players are clearly fond of O’Neill, but is that enough? Celtic are in need of modernisation from top to bottom, at executive level right down to communication. Some of that has improved over the past few months, but the Scottish champions need more. Especially with Hearts and Rangers gunning for them next season.

There must be a part of O’Neill who thinks ‘it doesn’t get much better than this’. A double, under the circumstances of this season, is the perfect goodbye. What’s to say next season will be the same? It would be a sad situation if a man with such lofty status with the Celtic faithful left on a negative note.

For Desmond, there will be a temptation to stick with O’Neill. He knows the man inside out and is aware of his presence, his standing at Celtic. It would, in many respects, be the easy decision. Another year of O’Neill and his staff would buy them more time to find the head coach who could drive them on for seasons to come.

Part of the thinking will centre around what other options there are out there. Jens Berthel Askou was touted as a viable candidate after his work at Motherwell this season, but he is off to Toulouse. Kieran McKenna has long-term admirers in the Celtic boardroom, but he has just got Ipswich Town promoted to the Premier League. Former Parkhead players Robbie Keane and Craig Bellamy are also in the mix.

None of them leap off the page. Despite his advancing years, despite having seven years out of the game prior to this, despite how crazy it would have sounded just a few months ago, O’Neill might just be the best candidate for the job.

Time is ticking, too. Celtic return to pre-season on June 26. They have a vital Champions League qualification tie to navigate in August. Celtic’s woes really deepened last summer when they lost to Kairat Almaty of Kazakhstan at the same stage and missed out on dining at the top table of European football. This is the last chance for Celtic to get there in two matches; from 2027/28, the Scottish champions enter at the second qualifying round. There are big financial prizes up for grabs.

Are Celtic set up to go with a new head coach? Head of football operations Paul Tisdale was bulleted alongside Nancy in January and hasn’t been replaced. Brian Wilson, who has done a heap of work healing deep cuts with the fanbase, is still an interim chairman. The club does not have a sporting director. Too many things are analogue in a digital era.

Celtic critics - and there are plenty, with calls of “sack the board” heard at Hampden despite the win - would claim that Desmond giving O’Neill a longer stay is lazy and unimaginative. Others would argue that the veteran coach deserves it. Both could be true at the same time.

Celtic chief executive Michael Nicholson was spotted at half time in the Hampden directors box deep in conversation on his mobile phone. Was he chatting to Desmond, getting instruction to put the contract under O’Neill’s nose? Celtic were 2-0 up at the time. Those inside the press box pondered. With Celtic, it feels like anything is possible right now.

Arguments can be made for sticking or twisting with O’Neill. Oh to be a fly on the wall when manager meets powerbroker in the coming days. Whatever the outcome, it needs to be swift. Celtic have got out of jail this season and surely don’t have another card to play if it goes wrong again.

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