Former Celtic skipper Paul Lambert says he would not be shocked if Martin O’Neill chose to leave his role as manager.
Following Sunday’s 1-0 Old Firm defeat to Rangers at Parkhead, O’Neill revealed that he would use the international break to reflect on his future.
The 74-year-old Celtic figurehead is facing mounting pressure after back-to-back losses against Rangers and a Europa League defeat by Ferencvaros in the space of a difficult week.
O’Neill acknowledged that he could not escape criticism, while openly questioning whether he still had what it takes to reverse Celtic’s fortunes or whether the time had come to “wrap it up”.
Lambert worked under O’Neill during the manager’s first Celtic tenure around the turn of the century, when the club enjoyed major domestic and European success.
The former Celtic captain does not believe the club would dismiss O’Neill, although he says he would understand if his former manager decided that walking away was the right choice.
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“I wouldn’t be surprised if he decided to leave,” Lambert said. “I don’t think he needs this pressure.
“I would be stunned and extremely disappointed if Celtic sacked him. If leaving is something he is considering, I believe the club would allow him to make that decision himself.
“He has built up a huge amount of goodwill. It was only recently that supporters were talking about putting up a statue of him, so you cannot suddenly swing from one extreme to the other.
“If he feels it is time to go, then it should be his decision.”
O’Neill returned as Celtic’s interim boss twice last season, stepping in after the departures of Brendan Rodgers and Wilfried Nancy before guiding the club to a league and cup double.
He agreed a permanent deal over the summer and Celtic remain two points clear at the top of the league, but the club is once again facing a major moment of uncertainty.
The Champions League collapse against LASK, when Celtic surrendered a four-goal advantage, appeared to foreshadow many of the problems that have emerged since.
Lambert believes the players must shoulder much of the blame for the current situation, and he was particularly critical of defender Cameron Carter-Vickers.
Carter-Vickers recently said Celtic’s approach had become “too random”, arguing that the team was struggling to follow a clear tactical plan.
“Only one man could pull Celtic out of trouble last season, and Martin did exactly that,” Lambert added. “I would be willing to bet that he has not suddenly changed the way he works.
“The responsibility has to be shared by the players. I watched the match and thought, ‘Dear me…’
“Carter-Vickers’ comments were embarrassing. I was thinking, ‘Hold on, you’re not making a film here.’”
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‘Solve the problem yourselves. When something is not going right, you look to rectify it, you don’t look to a manager to say “do this or do that”.
‘I thought that was bang out of order, coming from someone who’s been a decent player for Celtic.’
Despite his post-match comments about the team’s struggles, Carter-Vickers insists the players remain fully behind O’Neill despite the mounting pressure on the manager.
‘It’s been a tough week,’ said the defender. ‘But there’s been tough times since I’ve been here and we always somehow find a way to come out the other end of them.
‘All I can say is, as players, we’re behind the manager and behind the management team. What he achieved last year was unbelievable and obviously, as a playing group, we’re grateful to him for that.
‘So we’re still behind him and we’re going to do our best for him. We understand things from the fans’ point of view.
‘It’s hard to put your finger on one thing that’s wrong, but we do have a lot of new players. You can’t take away from the fact that I reflect on when I first signed and there was a lot of new players, we were nowhere near the team we were in the second six months during the second season.
‘Same when Brendan (Rodgers) came back. Again, it was an all-rightish first six months, then we progressed to something that was of a very high level.
‘We’re probably at the start of that process again, so for me it’s just important to be consistent and clear in what you want to do and stick with it.
‘You might not win every game, you might not be perfect, but if you’re consistent you always seem to come out on the other end positively. That’s all the manager’s trying to do.’
