Martin O’Neill to accept permanent Celtic manager offer? O’Rourke drops verdict
Martin O’Neill is not expected to be among the contenders to take on the full-time manager’s job at Celtic regardless of how his interim spell goes.
O’Neill has taken charge until the end of the season after Celtic sacked Wilfried Nancy, but they are then expected to assess alternative targets.
As I revealed on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 73-year-old is not considering taking the job on a full-time basis and has been open about his plans to step aside after helping the club out until the end of the season.
Former Man United chief scout Mick Brown told Football Insider on 6 January that O’Neill was the only option for Celtic after Nancy’s disastrous reign.
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.
Martin O’Neill unlikely to take permanent Celtic job
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 decision.
Luckily, O’Neill was on hand to step in once again and was keen to help the club out in what has been a turbulent season so far.
However, he is not expected to take on the role long-term and the club have now given themselves time to line up their next permanent appointment without rushing into it.
Speaking on the Inside Track podcast, I explained: “Obviously, Martin O’Neill is now back for his second interim spell after the disastrous Wilfried Nancy experience.
“O’Neill himself has been quite open saying that he’s happy just to help out right now. He’s not thinking of taking the job on a full-time basis.
“He’s a good age now, Martin, and as I said, maybe he doesn’t want that stress and everything else at this stage of life, becoming a Celtic’s full-time manager again.
“He did a good job when he first came back in after the departure of Brendan Rodgers, and Celtic are now hoping he can have a similar impact.
“It gives them time now, Celtic, with Martin in charge until the end of season that maybe they can explore their options and look to bring in a full-time appointment.”
Who will be the next permanent Celtic manager?
Nancy oversaw just eight games as Celtic manager before a 3-1 defeat at home against Old Firm rivals Rangers put the nail in the coffin of his tenure.
Motherwell’s Jens Berthel Askou is now the favourite to land the Celtic job on a permanent basis thanks to the impressive job he has done at Fir Park.
Askou’s side currently sit fourth in the Scottish Premiership table, just two points behind Celtic despite having played one more game as things stand.
In their final game of 2025, Motherwell beat Celtic 2-0 as Askou tactically outclassed Nancy in what was a dominant performance by the hosts.
Now, the bookies believe there is a chance that the Hoops may take Askou to become their next permanent manager at the end of the season.
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