O'Neill tight-lipped on Celtic future

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill was back in Glasgow today but was still remaining tight-lipped over his future at the Parkhead club.

The Hoops boss finally met up with his players at their Barrowfield training ground in the east end of the city after failing to show during their week-long winter training camp in Florida.

While his players were being put through their paces by assistant John Robertson and coach Steve Walford in Orlando, O’Neill was holding contract talks with Dermot Desmond at the major shareholder’s holiday home in Barbados.

Earlier today, O’Neill seemed keen to show it was business as usual, watching as his players trained ahead of tomorrow night’s Lisbon Lions benefit match against Feyenoord.

But his contract expires at the end of the season and his absence from the United States last week has only intensified speculation that he is set to quit Parkhead.

However, out-of-favour winger Bobby Petta insists the players are fully focused on the second half of the campaign – despite O’Neill’s failure to join them in Florida.

He is so confident the uncertainty at the club will not affect the team that he has predicted the current campaign will end just as successfully as O’Neill’s first term, when he clinched the domestic treble.

Petta told the club’s official website, www.celticfc.net: “It was a good week. The weather was nice, we trained hard and I think that everyone enjoyed themselves.

“It’s nice for us to go away to train in such a nice place with good conditions, and I tried to enjoy every minute.

“This break is good for all of us, and I think it helps focus us on the second half of the season and what we want to achieve.

“I have the utmost confidence in this team’s ability, and I believe that we can go back and do as well as we did two years ago.”

Petta has seen himself fall down the pecking order this season and has made just five appearances.

He is desperate to face former club Feyenoord on Wednesday night to boost his chances of winning his place back in the Holland squad, as well as O’Neill’s plans.

He added: “I’m sure it will be a really good test for us all and, yes, it will be a special game for me if the manager gives me the chance to play against my old club.

“It’s the same for Henrik Larsson, and I suppose it will also be special for Pierre van Hooijdonk.

“There’s definitely a history between the two clubs there, and I’m sure it will be a good night for the fans – and of course the Lisbon Lions.

“I’m certainly really looking forward to the game. I still know some of the people in charge at Feyenoord and, if I’m picked, it will be my first time playing against them since I moved to Britain.

“It will definitely be a good chance for me to show everyone what I can do again.

“It wasn’t that long ago that I was being called up to the Dutch squad, and it would be nice to remind everyone that I’m still around.”