Martin O’Neill Contemplates Rejecting Potential Celtic Manager Role: A Surprising Twist

Martin O’Neill has revealed he might consider stepping away from Celtic, even if he is presented with the opportunity to manage the team next season.

After navigating a tumultuous season that saw him at the helm twice, the Northern Irish manager has remarkably secured a double achievement.

In the wake of Saturday’s 3-1 triumph against Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup final, the 74-year-old shared that he anticipates a discussion with Dermot Desmond soon. However, he remains uncertain about the club executive’s intentions.

When questioned about the difficulty of turning down an offer from Celtic, O’Neill candidly replied, “No, I don’t think that at all. I really could decline an offer. Yes, I could do that.”

He further clarified, “I haven’t received an offer yet, so I don’t want to jump the gun. But if one does come, I hope Dermot gives me more than the 10 minutes he did in October to make my decision.”

O’Neill, who had been away from the football scene for six years, was initially approached by Desmond in October to succeed Brendan Rodgers. He then made a comeback in January after Wilfried Nancy’s dismissal following an eight-game stint.

With his legacy secure after adding two trophies to the seven he won between 2000 and 2005, he admitted that part of him can see the benefit of going out on a high.

‘Of course, absolutely,’ he added. ‘Yeah, there is that. This has been a surreal experience for me, both times coming back, yeah, and I wouldn’t disagree with you.’

O’Neill appears at least open to the possibility of remaining in charge, though — with a clear plan for his backroom staff to eventually succeed him possibly persuading him to remain.

‘The board might even think about that,’ he said. ‘Because Shaun (Maloney) and Fozzie (Mark Fotheringham), Big Mick (Stephen McManus) and Gavin (Strachan) have been terrific.’

Regardless of what Desmond decides, O’Neill feels it’s imperative that a decision is made quickly.

‘I agree, absolutely, they won’t have a great deal of time,’ he added. ‘You know, we’re getting towards the end of May, the season starts again in the first week of August. So yeah, they would need to start looking at things.

‘Hearts will go strong again. Rangers I think are a really fine footballing team. So, there’s plenty of challenges there for them, and they have to think about that.’

Despite being in management for over 30 years, O’Neill admits he’s still driven by a desire to prove something to himself.

‘It’s great and it’s lovely to end up (winning) and you think that you’ve proved something, but I’m never sure that you have, you know,’ he said.

‘Can I keep on doing it? Is it still there? Can I keep on doing it?

‘If I could clear my head and start again, I think I could do it, but I wouldn’t be really sure, not at this moment.’

Because of the uncertainty, O’Neill is unable to offer any clarity on the futures of Kelechi Iheanacho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, with Celtic yet to inform the pair if they are going to take up the one-year options they have on them.

One man missing from Celtic’s celebrations was Jota, who has suffered another injury setback

‘Iheanacho, he keeps asking me — do you think, are they going to keep me on?’ he explained. ‘I’ve no idea, mate. I’ve no idea. Don’t ask me. I’m not the manager anymore.’

Meanwhile, O’Neill has revealed that Jota has suffered an injury setback and won’t now be available until October.

The Portuguese tore his cruciate ligament on the day Celtic won the title at Tannadice a year ago and didn’t play a single minute of this season.

It was widely expected that he’d return for pre-season training this summer. But, asked if the winger would be ready for the start of next season, O’Neill revealed: ‘I can’t see it. He’s had a couple of setbacks. He’s now in Portugal, doing some rehab.

‘He’s had one of those little blood injections to try and get the thing up and running.

‘I wouldn’t see him starting (the season). I’d be hoping maybe by Halloween, maybe earlier.