It has been a long time since Martin O’Neill has been in the loop with Celtic with the former Celtic manager nearly gone from his post 15 years at this point.
The Celtic man still has a look over his shoulder to see what the club are doing while he still goes about his own managerial career. Currently at Nottingham Forest, the treble winning manager admitted he was left shocked by some of the criticism aimed at the appointment of his former captain Neil Lennon when he was given the full time Celtic job for the second time in his career.
“This idea that Neil was cheap or the board were negligent in not looking elsewhere seems exceptionally unfair. Neil has more than proven himself to have the credentials for this job and I would have full confidence that he’ll do it justice.” O’Neill told SunSport.
“When I heard there was some criticism towards Neil getting the job, I would have to say that it truly took me aback.
“I’m not sure why that would be the case.
“I really can’t get my head around it at all because I don’t think he put a foot wrong after taking over from Brendan Rodgers.
“If I get the chance, I watch Celtic games on television and I’m not sure that the season had been entirely fluent for the duration of the campaign, for one reason or another.
“So it was not a given that Neil would walk in there and get it right.
“I think you have to be really appreciative of the kind of pressure he was under in those months — all the while as he was trying to win a Treble, which is no mean feat.
“I sometimes wonder in this day and age whether there is an opinion that is as widespread as things are reported.
“When I watched the Scottish Cup final I heard his name sung loudly and clearly. It didn’t seem to me that there was an issue there.”
Some of what Martin has said is spot on but Celtic fans had every right to ask why Peter Lawwell didn’t even bother to seek out any other candidates for the role. There was no due diligence, no looking at options and from the outside looking in it seemed like the easy option for the chief executive.
Celtic fans would have been more content had their been a process and at the end of it, the board deemed Neil Lennon the only man for the job. However, they chose to go about it in a much more amateur manner. Even the timing of the announcement after the cup final was amateur.
Neil Lennon is certainly not underqualified and the fans are right behind him now he’s in the position but the ‘shock’ from O’Neill seems to come from a man who is out of the loop.
