O'Neill ready to open contract talks

Martin O’Neill revealed today that he is finally ready to open negotiations with the Celtic board over a new contract.

The successful Parkhead boss is in the final year of his present deal and many supporters fear that they could lose him.

But the Irishman gave them the news they were waiting for when he admitted that talks would get underway within the next few weeks.

“These are disappointing days after the Champions League exit,” said O’Neill. “But we will come back back fighting and come back strongly.

“But I would say this – that I will make a decision about my future very, very shortly.

“I wanted to concentrate on the Champions League but now that’s gone I will definitely be sitting down very shortly with the board.

“I’m sure the directors will summon me for a board meeting and I am very happy to do so.

“I’ll be sitting down with them and I’m sure things will go fairly amicably and favourably.

“But I would say that something will happen in days rather than weeks and certainly weeks rather than months.”

The Irishman also hinted that he would be ready to sign on even if the club fail to give him more cash to spend on players.

“That won’t have too much bearing on it,” he continued. “When you talk about financial restrictions I’ve been brought up on it with all the clubs I’ve been with before coming here.

“It doesn’t matter about the size of this club because football in general is suffering at the moment, but in terms of this club I will adhere to whatever budget I get as I have before.”

But with O’Neill currently in the final year of his current contract, the club have moved to reassure anxious supporters that the Irishman will not be allowed to slip through the net.

Quinn said: “Martin has made it known publicly that he wanted to get the Champions League qualifier out of the way before he settled down down to talk about the possible extension of his contract.

“He has since said that he expects to sit down with the board very soon, days rather than weeks, certainly weeks rather than months.

“We are very hopeful. We think he likes it here and we think he enjoys the environment.

“The team has become very successful under him so we are hopeful he will stay and continue to be at Celtic Park in the future.

“We are determined to keep Martin at Celtic. He is a leader of men and he has the full support of the board.

“We will do all we can to keep him at Celtic Park. We are quite happy to let discussions take their proper course.”