Is Martin O’Neill firing parting shots at the Celtic board in line with his departure?
Is Martin O'Neill taking potshots at the Celtic board as he exits the building?
Eric Knott 
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - SEPTEMBER 18: Celtic Manager Martin O'Neill during a Celtic training session at the Lennoxtown Training Centre, on September 18, 2026, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Williamson/SNS Group via Getty Images)
So, there have been plenty of rumours flying around over the weekend that today’s game against the Ibrox side at Celtic Park might be Martin O’Neill’s last game.
Rumours are rumours, but there’s no smoke without fire.
Let’s get real here.
It’s crystal clear that Martin O’Neill is not happy at the moment, his demeanour and snappiness before the Ferencvaros game tells us that much.
Between 2000 and 2005, I rarely recall Martin O’Neill ever getting that wound up before a game.
But honestly, could anybody really blame him for being pissed off at the moment?
It seems to me that it doesn’t matter who you are at Celtic, or what your standing is at the club, this board will shaft you to ensure the bank balance is the predominant factor in everything they do.
I honestly believe at this point that if the immortal Jock Stein was the manager of Celtic under this regime, they would even shaft him
Any normal, functional board would have given Martin O’Neill everything he needed and wanted to be prepared for this season, after what he did for the club last season.
No questions asked.
What Martin O’Neill delivered last season, under the circumstances that he delivered it, was nothing short of miraculous.
To treat him the way the board has treated him since then, has been the ultimate betrayal.
And that has to take it’s toll.
Underneath all of this, Martin O’Neill has to feel hard done by.
He is human after all.
So, when we hear rumours that he might be thinking of calling it quits at Celtic, I honestly couldn’t blame him
Yesterday, he spoke out about the situation surrounding Arne Engels.
It’s clear that the way the Engels transfer was handles rankles with him.
Here is what he said, as reported by the Daily Record:
I think that in an ideal world it would have been greater to have the likes of Arne Engels and that type of running power, and that’s really what we were trying to do when we knew that Arne was going to leave.
So it didn’t materialise, but that’s something that we would certainly have to look at. Arne, I always felt he was going to be leaving anyway.
Trying to get a like-for-like, we looked at a number of players who could do that.
For one reason or another, it didn’t materialise. So yeah, he’s been a loss in terms of that running power he can give you.
The message in that statement is that the Celtic board let him down when it came to Arne Engels.
Martin has as much as said that his running power was vital to the team, and that this is now what they’re missing badly.
In other words, ‘You sold Arne Engels, you didn’t replace him, and we’re now suffering badly because of that.’
That isn’t a thinly veiled dig at the board.
That’s a straight up, ‘You f***ed up, and now we’re paying the price.’
The question I’ve posed in the heading to this article is this; is he now taking parting shots at the board before he goes?
The interesting thing in all of this is Martin O’Neill’s relationship with Dermot Desmond.
It has always been perceived that Desmond held Martin in the highest regard.
Hence the reason he reached out to him after the departure of Brendan Rodgers.
But then, we were led to believe that Desmond also had similar respect for Brendan Rodgers.
I use the term similar loosely, because we saw what Demond’s respect for Rodgers amounted to almost a year ago.
It seems to me that Dermot Desmond only respects managers who are willing to toe the line the way he wants them to.
That’s why he ‘loved’ Neil Lennon.
I also use the term loved loosely, because it was more a case of Desmond saw Lennon as a useful idiot.
A nodding dog, as it were.
It’s why that love in is still going on.
Despite the damage Lennon and Desmond combined did to our aspirations during the Covid season.
Lennon was a yes man, and it’s becoming clearer and clearer that only yes men survive under Dermot Desmond.
If Lennon wasn’t a yes man, does anyone think he would have survived for as long as he did during the Covid season?
Martin O’Neill might be a lot of things, but he’s not a fool.
It’s also looking like he won’t tolerate being made a fool of either.
O’Neill sees the direction of travel at the moment, and he’s assessing that in line with his reputation.
As a result of that, I think today could be his last game.
He sees that Celtic is a sinking ship, and he has no intention of allowing his reputation or his legend go down with it.
Even if we win today against the Ibrox side, it changes nothing.
The Celtic board will not change.
Martin, I think, has accepted that.
But he’s not willing to have his reputation trashed in conjunction with it.
Rumours are rumours, but I understand why this one might be true.
The Celtic board have crossed a line with a Celtic legend, and he’s not willing to accept that.
For that, I could not blame him.
Key Takeaways
- Rumours suggest Martin O’Neill might leave Celtic due to dissatisfaction with the board’s treatment.
- O’Neill’s frustration stems from the failure to adequately support him, especially regarding the Arne Engels transfer.
- His comments indicate a clear sense of betrayal, as he sees his reputation at risk with the current regime.
- The article raises questions about Dermot Desmond’s respect for managers and the preference for ‘yes men’ at Celtic.
- Ultimately, O’Neill may not tolerate being made a fool of, leading to speculation that today could be his last game.
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As soon as I read story last night I thought along the same lines and on top of quitting rumours it might just be a parting shot . Anyhow with maeda there today I’m hoping it gives us some lift
I’ve said previously the Celtic team which won the double last season under Martin O’Neill’s craft and brilliance should have been broken up the very next day after the Scottish Cup win ? But no …it took to about 2 weeks before this season kicked off for this indifferent board to finally awaken from it’s continuing slumber and recruit 4 badly needed new players who obviously are still trying to conform to Scottish football and the Celtic style of playing . Losing around 10 weeks of inactivity on the transfer front is no way to run a football club ! It doesn’t matter how skilled and talented a head coach is …but trying to coach new guys ‘the way ‘ in such a short space of time is like waltzing around land mines ? And considering Celtic have been undefeated in the league this season I think it speaks volumes for Martin O’Neill’s unbelievable skills as a head coach in doing so ? Win today and just watch the progress unfold for the rest of the season ! DO IT ……
Brilliance and craft? We were useless, Hearts and The Rangers were even worse.
Am I the only person among the support who noticed Sinisalo`s blunder on Thursday
night? Just what kind of a goalkeeping coach do Celtic have? Sinisalo, instead of
keeping command of the ball for another 30 seconds, and instead of hoofing it as far away from his goal as possible, even giving them a throw-at their side of the pitch,
he handed back to them on a plate and McGregor was left to hold the baby.
If Celtic had gone in at half-time at 1-1 I believe the psychological boost they got
would have won the game for them. Instead, the opposite happened.
Why is it that every team in Scotland can have world class goalkeepers against Celtic
every week and Celtic can never get a goalkeeper to perform i the same manner?
He’s Desmond’s acolyte, no sympathy.
Half time 1-0 , very very poor.
It looks like what sow is what you reap , thanks to Desmond and his malignant cabal of corporate greed and austerity fc, this is now a farce that we have all been warning of ,now the fans s need action ,or accept shite ,stop giving them your money or you are complicit in the destruction of our club
Agree totally. Stop going until they have been booted out.
Time up 1-0. No tactics during whole game. A good team would have scored 8
Every one of them were shite. Listening to Martin being interviewed and he is talking shite- tjere isn’t much between the teams? Wise up Martin. We were fucking awful. They played us off the park
Can anyone blame him,a threadbare squad, lack of proper investment, well all the chickens are coming home to roost, this is a club with 100 million in the bank and a singular lack of ambition and contempt for the manager the backroom team the players and most importantly the fans,you must save this club stop giving them your money or you are complicit in the destruction of our club
Get MON away from Celtic too old and out of modern day football, legacies only last so long and take the coaching staff with him,fucking useless shower of shite ever run a football club
Despot Desmond will be happy tonight…
The ‘great club’ are closing in on his…
But tragically ours as well !
‘John Lennon, your lack of caring who owns Celtic is why Celtic are in the state they’re in.
Dermot Desmond has publicly stated that ‘the gap to Europe is unbridgeable’ and warmly welcomed Sevco into the Scottish league system with ‘Rangers (sic) are a great club (sic) with a long history (sic).’
And right there he declared his and Celtic’s partnership with Sevco to the world so he’ll be delighted with today’s result.
If you knew this stuff you would care who owned Celtic and you’re saying otherwise simply proves that you’re an imbecile.
Martin should just go while he’s top of the league…
He’s lost the dressing room and the dressing room has lost him…
Go while you’re top Martin and take Maloney and Fotheringham with ya buddy !
A bit late to start shouting once the boat has sunk, hell mend him, unfortunately it’s all us who suffer in the end.