Celtic hero of first O'Neill spell backs old boss to change fortunes as blame for poor results lies elsewhere
Hoops icon stuck up for his old mentor
Celtic hero Stiliyan Petrov doesn’t think it’s right time for manager Martin O’Neill to leave Celtic as he backed his former boss to turn their fortunes around.
The 74-year old is taking the opportunity to ‘reflect’ during the extended three-week long international break after a difficult week. Consecutive domestic defeats to rivals Rangers, as well as a Europa League loss to Ferencvaros, have left the Hoops in disarray.
Despite this, former midfielder Petrov - who was a mainstay for O’Neill during his first spell at the club - reckons poor recruitment has been responsible for recent results, and that now would be the wrong ‘time’ for the veteran gaffer to walk.
Where does Petrov think Celtic have went wrong of late?
Speaking on TalkSPORT, he said: “This would be the wrong time to sack Martin or let him go, because it’s a difficult time of the season. Just add somebody who can help him. A director of football, a head of recruitment, somebody who can help build the right team. In this transfer window Celtic missed a trick to add the right players.
“If you look at the timing of signing players, six in the last 48 hours – this is wrong. You don’t build winning teams like that. It’s a difficult time for Celtic, but it’s not like they haven’t been there before. Is Martin O’Neill protected? He is, because he has done so much for the club. Even last season Martin worked wonders.”
O’Neill now has three weeks before Celtic’s next league fixture away to Motherwell to assess his future. The Celtic board could also be forced to act within this time period, however CEO Michael Nicholson recently offered the veteran gaffer his full support.
What were O’Neill’s original comments on reflection?
After the 1-0 defeat to Rangers on Sunday, the Hoops boss said: “I think there's every reason to ask, you know, can you turn this round? Can you change the whole thing? We are, as I said, two points clear, so I have to kind of look at the bigger picture at this minute.
“But I knew that we were in a big, big fight anyway, with both ourselves, Rangers, and Hearts again, who are far from out of anything. It's a long season ahead. It's not the first time I've been questioned about my managerial time. So, yeah, I'll have a look at it. I will reflect and see.”
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