Sources: Celtic set O'Neill replacement criteria, they don't want their 'fingers burned' again
Celtic will endeavour to bring in a manager with vast experience behind him at top clubs if Martin O'Neill resigns, sources have told Football Insider.
The 74-year-old has revealed that he will seriously consider his future during the upcoming international break, and the club hierarchy are already planning for the prospect of him stepping away.
The recent defeats have heaped the pressure on the squad, and the board are reluctant to throw a young, up-and-coming coach into what is considered to be a "difficult" environment right now.
Sources say that there is also concern about the club having their "fingers burned" again by a manager of that ilk, after the disastrous move for Wilfried Nancy last season.
As a result, the Bhoys intend to target a figure with a proven track record behind them in European football, if they ultimately need to find a new man.
Celtic now have three weeks without a game, and the club hierarchy intend to give O'Neill the space he needs to make his decision over his future.
Martin O'Neill beginning to doubt himself
O'Neill is held in extremely high regard at Celtic, but it is clear that the difficult results in recent weeks have taken their toll on him.
The veteran boss spoke candidly after his team's Old Firm Derby defeat to Rangers on Sunday, and made it clear that he will ask questions of himself in the coming weeks.
O'Neill suggested that his future at Parkhead now boils down to a matter of whether he can "still help the team," or whether he has now done all that he can.
The positive feeling from the Bhoys' 100 per cent start to the Scottish Premiership season has now quickly faded away, with three successive defeats in three different competitions.
The board are fully prepared to allow O'Neill to make his own decision, but that hasn't stopped them from thinking ahead in case they need to make a change.
Celtic fans could 'turn on' O'Neill
Former Manchester United chief scout Mick Brown told Football Insider that Celtic fans could "turn on" O'Neill if they lost to Rangers again this weekend.
That prospect is now staring the Northern Irishman in the face after his team succumbed to a 1-0 loss to their bitter rivals on home turf.
Brown believes that O'Neill was "reluctant" to continue at the helm after last season, and now finds himself under pressure that he never "expected" to face.
Nancy's brief reign last season showed how difficult it is to win the Celtic fans over after a series of poor results, and O'Neill knows that better than anyone.