Celtic dressing room stance on making Martin O'Neill permanent manager as high level operator makes key move
The Celtic dressing room has reacted to who could possibly be named their next manager.
He’s open to a conversation of sticking around a little while longer - and the Celtic dressing room have loved working with Hoops hero Martin O’Neill.
The former Aston Villa and Sunderland boss racked up another famous win at the helm of the side he managed between 2000-2005, beating Rangers 3-1 after extra time in a pulsating Premier Sports Cup semi final. He is holding the fort on an interim basis alongside player-pathway manager Shaun Maloney after Brendan Rodgers’ resignation last week.
Celtic fans chanted his name at Hampden and O’Neill has managed the likes of Aston Villa, Sunderland and the Republic of Ireland national team in the years since leaving Glasgow first time around. He would be open to a conversation on staying about for the final in December against St Mirren and the dressing room have loved working with him. While coy on if he’d like him as permanent manager or not, Arne Engels says O’Neill and co have brought renewed confidence.
Will Martin O’Neill be the next permanent Celtic manager?
Engels said: “It's really nice. Everybody has a good feeling about the management now with everybody in there and everybody is really happy with him. So, I hope now we can just move on to the next game because that's going to be also an important one. So, now everything is going really well and everybody has a really good feeling about it.
“Yeah, we're going to see how everything goes. It's above my head that everybody is going and deciding those things, but yeah, it's going really well. Everybody is really happy with him and with all the other staff members also that are doing a really good job. So, everybody is happy with how it's going now, but like I said it's above my head that those things are going to be decided. Everybody is really happy with him and positive.”
Captain Callum McGregor is on the same lines of enjoyment as Engels, and all the skipper wants to work with is someone in the top tier bracket. With his Celtic experience coupled with Aston Villa, Sunderland and more, that is what the Irishman brings.
Callum McGregor on Celtic win vs Rangers
McGregor said: “He's been great, someone with huge experience. He's been around the block so many times and a really calm influence. He was exceptional again, asked for intensity from the players and I think in the first half you could see we pretty much won every duel, every first ball, every second ball and we were excellent.
“He was a big part of that as well. Really calm head and just asked us to go and play, believe in yourself, and you'll go and win the game. Obviously you want to work with top managers and he's someone who's been around the block a fair few times and his experience.
“He's managed at such a high level and what he's come in, he's just pumped everybody full of confidence. The players feel good, they want to run and fight and that's what you need exactly in this game.”