Martin O’Neill replaces Wilfried Nancy – ‘This is the real reason for Celtic’s decision’
Martin O’Neill was quickly lined up to replace Wilfried Nancy following his dismissal at Celtic as the board finally confessed they had made the wrong call.
That is according to former Man United and Blackburn chief scout Mick Brown, who remains very well-connected within the game, as he exclusively told Football Insider that O’Neill was “the only option” to step into the dugout at this stage.
The 73-year-old remains a hugely popular figure among the fans and the squad following the success of his interim spell between Brendan Rodgers‘ and Nancy‘s tenures.
After the latter’s appointment, there was an immediate and noticeable mood switch at Parkhead, while results immediately dropped off, and O’Neill’s return became inevitable.
Brown told Football Insider in November that O’Neill was happy to stay at Celtic, where he led the side to seven wins from his eight games in charge.
Celtic appoint Martin O’Neill after Wilfried Nancy sacked
Brown told Football Insider on 5 January that Celtic got Nancy’s appointment horribly wrong, and were forced to hold their hands up and backtrack on the call.
The former scout, who has a wealth of experience working closely alongside elite-level managers including Sir Alex Ferguson for over a decade at Man United, insisted that O’Neill’s appointment will go down well both with the fans and the squad.
“It’s no surprise that they’ve made the decision to go back to O’Neill,” he told Football Insider.
“He was the only option really, when you look at what’s happened this season.
“O’Neill was in there and things were going well, they appointed Nancy and it’s gone off a cliff, so they will look at the manager as the reason for that.
“The players and the fans were happy during his spell, results were going the right way and they looked to be somewhat back to their best.
“The fact that mood almost immediate vanished when Nancy came in says a lot about how things went and the reasons things fell through.
“So they’ll hope that by bringing O’Neill back, they can bring back that positive feeling because he’s well-respected and well-liked in the dressing room and in the stands.
“They want to get everybody pulling in the same direction again and that’s what they’ll need if they want to turn their season around now.”
Paul Tisdale follows Nancy out of Parkhead
Alongside their decision to sack Nancy, Paul Tisdale also left Celtic Park, ending his time as the club’s Head of Football Operations.
Tisdale joined Celtic in October 2024, and despite overseeing what was a positive 2024-25 campaign, things have quickly turned disastrous this season.
Celtic fans quickly turned on Tisdale this season after a series of terrible decisions has made another Scottish Premiership title look unlikely.
With their resignation that Nancy’s appointment was a failure on the board’s behalf, they have also made the decision to cut their losses with Tisdale in hopes of turning things around.
Celtic currently sit on 38 points after 20 games, six points behind league leaders Hearts and level on points with their Old Firm rivals Rangers.
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