O’Neill Returns With Celtic Problems To Solves

When Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers decided to walk out of Parkhead last season, repeated Board failures were dragged right to the fore for the loyal and faithful fans, and we then found patience’s were tested even further with the appointment of still unknown Wilfried Nancy.

Thankfully, the legend that remains Martin O’Neill returned twice to get us out of the mire and the serial winning gaffer had lost none of his touch or magic, and from a season full of disappointment, disgust and frustration that looked set to fizzle out into nothingness – he only went and added another Scottish Premiership title and Scottish Cup double to his tallies despite the 20 odd year gap.

With confirmation this week that the 74 year old Northern Irishman had agreed to return on a permanent basis and had agreed to a 12 month contract, with a further optional 12 month extension, fans are now eagerly awaiting the coming Celtic stats, results, fixtures and transfers for next season. They can also now enjoy Scotland’s performance at the World Cup should they wish safe in the knowledge that the serial winner is now working hard behind the scenes at Celtic Park to bring both the foundations and stability back that we desperately need, along with the standards and future vision that we have severely lacked in more recent times.

One of the first thing that Hoops fans will be hoping to see during our pre season build up campaign is a far better, and far more aligned style of play. It is a natural problem when changing managers with no obvious shared ethos between them, and the players do get some sympathy and an excuse or two here given we had three different managers in charge in the space of nine odd months.

Grinding out results was O’Neill’s only concern last season, but he will be after far more than that as we move forward. A real understanding in playing ethos only aides motivation, player anticipation and composure – convincing performances can also be massive for confidence levels. Recruitment will play into this, as leaders in the dressing room and on the pitch are also key to getting that messaging across, and we naturally have a number of potential player outgoings to sort as well.

The World Cup may or may not play into our hands here when looked at in the round, but the campaign will be here before we know it so getting our ducks lined up quickly will be crucial. Despite the hard work that is needed and how much O’Neill has taken on (and he will know it) his own personal pride will see him want to make an impact in Europe again as 2003 from undoubtedly one of his club highlights. We are highly unlikely to achieve that again at his first time of asking, but he will be judging the year based on how close he can get – even if only privately.

The elephant in the room next year is also simply O’Neill. He is the safe pair of hands, he is effectively a no risk appointment who won the title in effectively half a season. The vision will not be coming from the Board, the Board have not demonstrated they have learned from the mistakes we can all see as for 12 more months O’Neill’s talents and drive will invariably hide all.

It is a one year safety blanket and absolutely no one knows whether or not we will use it correctly and to its fullest. That in itself could be the greatest failure of his appointment.

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