Martin O’Neill: If Cetlic had asked me to stay on, I would have done so

Just three games into his time as Celtic manager, Wilfried Nancy is already coming under pressure. O'Neill pleaded with the Frenchman's critics to give him time

Mon, 15 Dec, 2025 - 18:26

Anthony Brown

Martin O’Neill pleaded with Wilfried Nancy’s detractors to give him more time to prove himself as he refused to be drawn on whether he would step back into the breach if Celtic were to sack the recently-appointed Frenchman.

Nancy has had a disastrous start to his reign as Hoops boss, with pressure already mounting on the 48-year-old following defeats in each of his first three games in charge against Hearts, Roma, and St Mirren in Sunday's League Cup final.

Veteran O’Neill, who oversaw six wins in seven matches during a ship-steadying stint in interim charge after Brendan Rodgers resigned in October, said “I could have lost all of those games as well, too” as he jumped to the defence of the embattled former Columbus Crew boss.

“No, you cannot make a judgment on anybody over three games, and the matches were difficult,” O’Neill said during an appearance on talkSPORT on Monday.

“Roma was going to be a difficult game, whether you’re playing at home or not. Hearts was a top-of-the-table clash, and a cup final is a cup final. You have got to give a manager some time.”

O’Neill pointed to his own turbulent start to his ultimately successful stint as Leicester manager 30 years ago as an example of how Nancy’s predicament at Celtic could improve. Asked if the situation was recoverable, the 73-year-old said: “Absolutely. Of course it is. And I’m not just saying that.

“It is recoverable. Of course. You’re in the football club 10 or 12 days. And even though you probably have watched the team play, you still have to learn about the players. I had to learn about the players myself and I got great help from the coaching staff.”

O’Neill is a hero among the Celtic support after following up his successful five-year spell in the early 2000s with his short and fruitful recent stint at the helm.

Many are already speculating about the possibility of the veteran Northern Irishman being invited back for another spell of firefighting if Nancy is unable to turn the tide.

O’Neill was asked on more than one occasion if he would consider returning to Celtic Park but was clearly reluctant to discuss such a scenario out of respect for the current incumbent. The closest he got to answering was when he said: “That would be totally hypothetical.”

Celtic reached the cup final with victory over Rangers in one of O'Neill's games in charge. Asked if he had any ambition to lead Celtic out in the final, O'Neill said: “Only if asked. That wasn't really important. And I say that in all sincerity. That was not a driving force in the whole thing.

“Beating Rangers in the semi-final gave us a chance in the final. Listen, finals are still difficult. But at the end of it all, if the board had said: 'Listen, we still have a problem with visas and things like this here', I'd happily have stayed on, whatever that game may be, my last game.

"But that was not a driving force from my viewpoint."

Further pressed if he had been motivated to carry on at Celtic, O'Neill said: “So motivated to stay on.

"If they had asked me to stay on, I would have done so.

“But the minute that they said: ‘No, listen, that's your time’, that is fine by me. That is exactly what I want.”