Martin O’Neill’s future at Celtic remains uncertain, but there is growing talk that the club legend could be offered a role at board level once a new manager is appointed.

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O’Neill has had supporters chant out his name during his short interim spell in charge, picking up from where he left off while steadying results and restoring a sense of unity after Brendan Rodgers’ departure.

While his name is once being sung proudly around Celtic Park, the current board faces intense scrutiny and anger from sections of the support.

Chants of “Sack the board” have become a regular feature at games this season, and fan campaigns such as “Not Another Penny”, which calls for a boycott of club merchandise and official outlets, have gathered momentum. The club even recently introduced discounts on Celtic shirts in an apparent bid to boost falling sales.

Now, Record Sport’s Keith Jackson has suggested that Celtic could look to harness O’Neill’s popularity by bringing him into the boardroom to ease tensions among supporters.

Speaking on Hotline Live, Jackson said:

“People are demanding change at board level. If Martin O’Neill was to take on some sort of role up the stairs as part of the board, does that placate people? I think it would.

“I think right now there’s an absolute loving for Martin O’Neill amongst the Celtic fans, and understandably so.

“If you were clever about things, if you managed to move people around a little bit and said that Martin was part of the board, then I think right away there’d be real friction at anybody sitting inside the board if Martin O’Neill was part of that board.

“That might not be strategically the worst thing for Celtic. And I wonder if there might be conversations to that end that have to take place this week.

“Because when they announce that Martin O’Neill’s stepping down and they’ve got a new manager, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if there was a secondary part of that announcement – ‘and here’s what Martin’s going to do now’ – which is basically putting a big sort of bomb bunker round the rest of the boardroom for the time being.”

O’Neill’s short-term deal as interim manager is due to conclude following the international break, with Wilfried Nancy now the leading candidate to take over permanently.

Talks have progressed over the weekend, and a it looks like a deal is close to being struck. Once there is that agreement in principle, the club will reach out to Columbus and negotiate the compensation package.

It’s believed that Celtic would be due the MLS side £2m if they do decide to bring Nancy to Glasgow.

Celtic have been holding talks with Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney this week,about what the future has in hold for the pair.