The Celtic boss is expected to manage his final game against Hibs this weekend before Wilfried Nancy takes the reins
Grateful Martin O’Neill says he expects Sunday’s clash with Hibs to be his final game as interim Celtic boss – teasing Wilfried Nancy’s announcement will land ‘at the beginning of next week.’
Interim boss O’Neill has steadied the ship and then some after Brendan Rodgers’ bombshell exit, winning six of his seven games in charge, with last night’s 3-1 Europa League triumph over Feyenoord in Rotterdam perhaps the pick of the bunch. He’s ensured that Frenchman Nancy will be walking into a far more stable environment when he takes over – with his first game in the dugout widely expected to be the home clash with Dundee on Wednesday night.
O’Neill was asked by Sky Sports this afternoon if he does expect the trip to Easter Road on Sunday to be his final game in charge. And he honestly admitted: “I would imagine so. I was speaking to some of the board members last night, things are progressing nicely. I’m hoping things will be in place by the beginning of next week.”
He was then pressed on Nancy directly and asked about the scale of the job the Columbus Crew boss is taking on. O’Neill said: “Hopefully he’ll find a side that is bubbling with a bit of confidence which is great. There’s been a restoration of that from previous weeks.
“He’ll have a fair idea of what he’s coming into. He doesn’t need any guidance from me.”
Will there be a feeling of sadness when he vacates the building for the final time?
“I came up here and it’s been a whirlwind time,” he said. “If you ask me deep down, have I loved it? I probably have even though my face doesn’t always say it.
“But in terms of messages to the fans, there are more important things for the fans and the team to worry about. And that’s trying to win the game at Easter Road.
“Will I be sad to leave? Please, ask me this again here on Sunday evening. I’ll probably be able to give you a proper answer.
“Have I enjoyed it? Yes I have. Did I know this was always going to be interim? Of course I did. Have I got used to the surroundings here at this minute? I’m not so sure! That’s been really strange compared to my early days.
“The lovely thing about it is the players have really responded, which is nice. The best example of that was against Feyenoord, a goal behind after 11 minutes when we probably should have been one in front.
“Heads could easily have gone down, maybe minds would have drifted back to Midtjylland a couple of weeks earlier.
“But no. We fought back, played some great great stuff, and deserved to win the game.”
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