The Celtic board have come under fresh criticism after appearing set to hand Martin O’Neill the manager’s job on a permanent basis.
Former Manchester United chief scout Mick Brown believes the club have merely delayed bigger issues rather than solved them.
O’Neill’s expected appointment follows one of the most remarkable rescue jobs in Celtic’s recent history.
The veteran manager twice returned to a club in turmoil and somehow delivered a league and cup double. Few supporters would argue he has not earned the opportunity to continue.
The bigger question is why it appears to have taken so long.
More than two weeks have passed since Celtic lifted the Scottish Cup at Hampden and the club have still not formally announced their managerial plans.
Talks were held with Robbie Keane before ultimately failing to progress, while the reported shortlist itself has raised eyebrows among some supporters.
For a club with ambitions of reaching the Champions League league phase and rebuilding the squad this summer, many expected a broader search than a straight choice between O’Neill and Keane.
Speaking to Football Insider, Brown questioned both the process and the thinking behind it, while calling out the Celtic board who have just kicked teh can down the road.
“Celtic have decided they’re sticking with Martin O’Neill.
“The thing is, he’s done them a massive favour, he’s done a fantastic job on an interim basis, won the league, won the cup, and the players seemed to be happy under him.
“But it was always supposed to be a short-term deal, he even said it when he took over, he was coming in to do the club a favour.
“Then it gets to the end of the season, they’re looking for their next manager, and the powers that be have got a decision to make.
“When it comes to making these big decisions, the Celtic board go missing, they’re not willing to put their necks on the line and say ‘look, this is what we want to do’.
“If Martin O’Neill is the man they want to continue his work there, then why has it taken until weeks after the season ended for them to come to that conclusion?
“Now, they have to decide whether he’s going to play a part in the recruitment or whether he’s just going to be the manager and he’ll let the club get on with the rest.
“But hiring Martin O’Neill on another one-year contract just smacks of not wanting to commit to anything, because they’ll be in the same position again next season.
“There are major problems at Celtic and they keep pushing them down the road.”
Whether supporters agree with Brown or not, his comments touch on a concern many fans have voiced throughout the season.
O’Neill may well be the right man for the here and now. His achievements over the past eight months suggest as much.
But the board’s handling of the managerial process, succession planning and recruitment structure will remain under scrutiny long after the celebrations from last season’s double have faded.
I wonder if any of them are even in the building at this point ,or all on holiday,and that’s why no announcement has been made.It genuinely wouldn’t surprise me.They appear to be just winging it and actually becoming more inept with each passing week.Mick Brown I fear is onto something.Its alot worse up there than we first thought.
Nothing will change whilst the billionaire dinosaur holds the reins. Our board are utterly incompetent at every level. They’re just a bunch of sycophantic arseholes trying to stay entrenched in the Desmond gravy train. We have no strategy, no plan and no ambition.
I personally think Martin has about 5 million and when they sell players which they will, Martin will get some of that to bring in some wonder kid that is not ready for the first team. I feel for Martin this should have been sorted out right away I don’t want Martin to be the fall guy for the incompetent Celtic board
Dunno where you get that figure from, however it wouldn’t surprise me. The team, players and staff have earned the millions we have in the bank, so a fairer share should be given to MON to help us all win and feel better.
After all, whats the point of having so much dormant cash only to give HMRC a bigger cut than they should. For a board full of so called “finance experts” they seem to thrive on bragging how much they have and amount they give the taxman!!!
I’ll bet all the punters have already bought their season tickets. If that’s the case then Desmond and his useless Board crewe will do in recruitment what they always do – absolutely nothing of note. The signs thus far are not good.
I was surprised Martin took the offer for a further 12 months this board have no ambition for celtic to go forward they are so out of there depth regarding football Desmond not much better. Let’s see what type of funds are made available to Martin dont forget when he came manager years ago they gave him funds then cut that off the following years again no ambition just happy to plod along in the spl same thing will happen now 2026.Fans also the problem they keep falling for same old bullshit from celtic pr team going to buy this player for millions we know its all bullshit just buy our st/merchandise etc what do fans do buy buy .