James Forrest
The Emperor of Ice Cream
There is something about Martin O’Neill’s current situation at Celtic which I think people are looking at from the wrong direction.
The obvious question is whether he still wants to continue as manager, and that matters, of course. But I think there is a more important question sitting underneath it. Why should Martin O’Neill be the person carrying the burden of Celtic’s uncertainty?
He has already given this club an enormous amount. He returned when Celtic needed him, steadied the team and brought authority, experience and calm at a moment when the club was in chaos. He took on pressure that was not created by him and accepted responsibility for problems he did not design.
Now, after months of that pressure, he is being asked again whether he is willing to keep going. I think Celtic should be very careful about how much they expect from him.
O’Neill has spoken before about wanting a normal life again. He mentioned something as simple as sitting down for a coffee on the King’s Road, and I think that comment matters because it tells us something about the person behind the manager.
Football has a strange way of turning people into roles. Manager, player, director, supporter. We forget that those people still have lives outside the stadium.
Martin O’Neill is 74 years old. He has spent decades living inside the intensity of football. He has managed huge clubs, worked under enormous pressure, carried expectations and faced criticism in public for most of his adult life.
If part of him now wants some peace, I completely understand that. I do not think Celtic should make him feel guilty for it.
That is the part of this situation which bothers me most.
If O’Neill decides he wants to continue, wonderful. Then Celtic should support him properly and give him everything he needs to make the rest of the season work.
But if he decides he has had enough, then the club should thank him, respect that decision and move immediately to the next stage. What Celtic absolutely should not do is allow their own lack of planning to become Martin O’Neill’s responsibility.
He does not owe Celtic another sacrifice simply because the Board failed to prepare for the possibility that one day he might decide enough was enough. That is not his problem. It is theirs.
There is a strange idea in football that loyalty always travels in one direction. Players are expected to be loyal to clubs. Managers are expected to be loyal to clubs. Supporters are expected to remain loyal forever.
But clubs also have responsibilities to people.
They have responsibilities to the players who give them everything. They have responsibilities to managers who step into difficult situations. And they have responsibilities not to lean too heavily on someone’s emotional connection to the club simply because it is convenient.
Martin O’Neill loves Celtic. That much is obvious.
But loving Celtic does not mean he has to spend the rest of his life solving Celtic’s problems. He should be allowed to make a decision based on what he wants for himself.
That is not selfish. That is normal.
And Celtic should already know what happens next, whatever he decides.
That is where my real concern lies.
A properly run football club should not be sitting there waiting to discover whether the manager wants to continue before beginning to think about the future. There should already be a plan.
There should be names, profiles and a clear idea of what kind of manager Celtic want next, what kind of football the club wants to play and what kind of structure that person would inherit.
If O’Neill stays, that plan can remain on the shelf. If he leaves, it should be ready.
That is what succession planning means.
And this is where Celtic too often seem to fail. Everything becomes reactive.
Something goes wrong, then the club responds. A manager leaves, then the club starts thinking about replacements. A weakness appears, then recruitment begins looking for a solution. A crisis arrives, then everybody scrambles.
That is not planning. That is firefighting.
Martin O’Neill should not have to remain in the job because Celtic are frightened of what happens if he does not. If that fear exists, then it tells us something very serious about the people running the club.
It tells us they have allowed one man’s willingness to help Celtic become part of the club’s contingency planning. That should never happen.
I also think supporters have to be fair to O’Neill here. We can criticise tactics, selections and results. That is football.
But the question of whether he wants to continue is different. That is personal.
If he looks at the job and decides that the energy required is no longer something he wants to give, then I will not think less of him. Why should I? He has already given Celtic more than enough.
And if he decides the opposite, if he looks at the challenge and thinks, *I still want this*, then I want to see Celtic respond properly.
Not with sentiment or vague promises, but with support, clarity and a football structure which makes his job easier rather than harder.
Because there is no point persuading someone to stay and then leaving them to fight the same battles again. That would be selfish from Celtic, and pointless.
This is why I think the conversation around O’Neill has to change. It cannot just be: will he stay or will he go?
The bigger question is whether Celtic are prepared for either answer.
Martin O’Neill has earned the right to choose. Celtic have not earned the right to be surprised by his choice.
If he stays, back him. If he leaves, thank him.
But whichever way this goes, the Board must already know what comes next.
That is their responsibility, not his.
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The post Celtic’s support structures around Martin O’Neill need to be better. appeared first on The Celtic Blog.
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The obvious question is whether he still wants to continue as manager, and that matters, of course. But I think there is a more important question sitting underneath it. Why should Martin O’Neill be the person carrying the burden of Celtic’s uncertainty?
He has already given this club an enormous amount. He returned when Celtic needed him, steadied the team and brought authority, experience and calm at a moment when the club was in chaos. He took on pressure that was not created by him and accepted responsibility for problems he did not design.
Now, after months of that pressure, he is being asked again whether he is willing to keep going. I think Celtic should be very careful about how much they expect from him.
O’Neill has spoken before about wanting a normal life again. He mentioned something as simple as sitting down for a coffee on the King’s Road, and I think that comment matters because it tells us something about the person behind the manager.
Football has a strange way of turning people into roles. Manager, player, director, supporter. We forget that those people still have lives outside the stadium.
Martin O’Neill is 74 years old. He has spent decades living inside the intensity of football. He has managed huge clubs, worked under enormous pressure, carried expectations and faced criticism in public for most of his adult life.
If part of him now wants some peace, I completely understand that. I do not think Celtic should make him feel guilty for it.
That is the part of this situation which bothers me most.
If O’Neill decides he wants to continue, wonderful. Then Celtic should support him properly and give him everything he needs to make the rest of the season work.
But if he decides he has had enough, then the club should thank him, respect that decision and move immediately to the next stage. What Celtic absolutely should not do is allow their own lack of planning to become Martin O’Neill’s responsibility.
He does not owe Celtic another sacrifice simply because the Board failed to prepare for the possibility that one day he might decide enough was enough. That is not his problem. It is theirs.
There is a strange idea in football that loyalty always travels in one direction. Players are expected to be loyal to clubs. Managers are expected to be loyal to clubs. Supporters are expected to remain loyal forever.
But clubs also have responsibilities to people.
They have responsibilities to the players who give them everything. They have responsibilities to managers who step into difficult situations. And they have responsibilities not to lean too heavily on someone’s emotional connection to the club simply because it is convenient.
Martin O’Neill loves Celtic. That much is obvious.
But loving Celtic does not mean he has to spend the rest of his life solving Celtic’s problems. He should be allowed to make a decision based on what he wants for himself.
That is not selfish. That is normal.
And Celtic should already know what happens next, whatever he decides.
That is where my real concern lies.
A properly run football club should not be sitting there waiting to discover whether the manager wants to continue before beginning to think about the future. There should already be a plan.
There should be names, profiles and a clear idea of what kind of manager Celtic want next, what kind of football the club wants to play and what kind of structure that person would inherit.
If O’Neill stays, that plan can remain on the shelf. If he leaves, it should be ready.
That is what succession planning means.
And this is where Celtic too often seem to fail. Everything becomes reactive.
Something goes wrong, then the club responds. A manager leaves, then the club starts thinking about replacements. A weakness appears, then recruitment begins looking for a solution. A crisis arrives, then everybody scrambles.
That is not planning. That is firefighting.
Martin O’Neill should not have to remain in the job because Celtic are frightened of what happens if he does not. If that fear exists, then it tells us something very serious about the people running the club.
It tells us they have allowed one man’s willingness to help Celtic become part of the club’s contingency planning. That should never happen.
I also think supporters have to be fair to O’Neill here. We can criticise tactics, selections and results. That is football.
But the question of whether he wants to continue is different. That is personal.
If he looks at the job and decides that the energy required is no longer something he wants to give, then I will not think less of him. Why should I? He has already given Celtic more than enough.
And if he decides the opposite, if he looks at the challenge and thinks, *I still want this*, then I want to see Celtic respond properly.
Not with sentiment or vague promises, but with support, clarity and a football structure which makes his job easier rather than harder.
Because there is no point persuading someone to stay and then leaving them to fight the same battles again. That would be selfish from Celtic, and pointless.
This is why I think the conversation around O’Neill has to change. It cannot just be: will he stay or will he go?
The bigger question is whether Celtic are prepared for either answer.
Martin O’Neill has earned the right to choose. Celtic have not earned the right to be surprised by his choice.
If he stays, back him. If he leaves, thank him.
But whichever way this goes, the Board must already know what comes next.
That is their responsibility, not his.
Choose The CelticBlog as a ‘Preferred Source’ on Google News for quick access to the news you value.
The post Celtic’s support structures around Martin O’Neill need to be better. appeared first on The Celtic Blog.
Continue reading...
