Martin O’Neill ‘ruling the roost’ at Celtic after three deals agreed
Martin O’Neill’s power at Celtic was a crucial factor in Arne Engels not moving to Nottingham Forest in the January window.
That is according to ex-Aberdeen, Aston Villa, and Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes the Celtic board would have let Engels leave.
Celtic rejected three bids from Nottingham Forest for Engels, with the Premier League side offering up to £25million for the midfielder.
Engels has started all but one game since O’Neill returned as interim manager for a second spell this season, with the 73-year-old not willing to lose the midfielder with little time to find a replacement.
Martin O’Neill ‘ruling the roost’ at Celtic
Aberdeen’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Pittodrie between 2000 and 2004, had lengthy spells as the chief of Everton and Aston Villa and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes the Celtic board would have “loved” to have accepted a £25m offer for Engels.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast, Wyness thinks Engels staying in Glasgow shows O’Neill’s “power” at the club.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “Absolutely it was a surprise, but again as we’ve discussed in recent weeks, St Martin has got the power at the moment, and he’s decided that look, if we’re going to mount a title challenge, I don’t want my players to go mid-season, and he has managed to win that battle.
“I’m sure the Celtic board would have been salivating at the chance to get £25million. They love the bank account, and they’d love to have topped it up a bit further. But I think Martin, having a pretty strong position, has said no and that’s what I’ve said now also.
“He’s brought in three players on loan. Martin seems to be ruling the roost right now, and quite rightly, and they are chasing Hearts pretty strongly, so it’s becoming the exciting season we talked about and I think this is all to do with Martin at the moment in terms of his power and being able to block things as much as spending money as well.”
Celtic fall behind in title race
Celtic were left frustrated that their Scottish Premiership game at Aberdeen was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch at Pittodrie.
Whilst the Scottish FA may not fine Aberdeen for a late pitch inspection, the Dons have been criticised for not arranging for a referee to make a call on the game earlier.
O’Neill’s side could have moved within three points of Hearts with a win, but they will now need to wait until March before the game can be played.