Martin O’Neill's Return to Celtic: No Rush, No Pressure
Shaun Maloney insists there is no rush, no pressure and certainly no deadline on Martin O’Neill’s return to the Celtic dugout. The decision, he says, belongs to the 74-year-old alone.
O’Neill, who underwent what the club have described as a “small procedure” in hospital, was discharged on Thursday. He has already delivered one dramatic act in this latest Celtic chapter, guiding the club to a league and cup Double across two caretaker spells last season before being handed a one-year contract in the summer. Whether he is back on the touchline for Sunday’s trip to Kilmarnock remains uncertain.
No timeline, Maloney made clear. “He’ll make the call.”
O’Neill’s call, O’Neill’s pace
Maloney visited his manager on Thursday night and came away encouraged.
“It was really positive,” he said. “He was in good form – loads better than he was Monday, Tuesday. Hopefully that sort of positive feeling he has continues.”
O’Neill was well enough to take his place in the dugout for Celtic’s opening Scottish Premiership win, a 1-0 victory over Dundee on Monday. Since then, the situation has moved into what feels like a rolling, 24-hour assessment.
“Even for the game at the weekend, it’s sort of day-to-day,” Maloney explained. “We saw him last night with regards to the preparation for the game and then he wasn’t in today.
“I’ll speak to him this afternoon and then he’ll make a call for tomorrow. And then I’d imagine he’ll make the call for the game at the weekend.
“But, if it’s this weekend, great. If it isn’t, then we’ll prepare for it with that one.”
The message is clear: Celtic will not push their manager. The man who has reshaped the club’s season once already will decide when he is ready to step back into the technical area.
Maloney ready for a strange Sunday
If O’Neill opts to stay away from Rugby Park, Maloney will step forward. The former Hibernian and Wigan manager has been here before as a No 1, but doing it in O’Neill’s absence for Celtic, he admits, would feel different.
“We’ll definitely miss him if he’s not there but you also have to respect what’s happened the last few days,” he said.
“The impact that he’s had over, what was it, since October, it’s been nothing short of incredible really – the things that he does with the players and the staff.
“So we will miss him, but we’ll be prepared. We’ve got some brilliant senior players, but we’ll see. We’ll let him make the call.”
The dressing room, then, becomes even more important. Senior figures are expected to shoulder extra responsibility if the man who has driven Celtic’s resurgence watches from home rather than from the touchline.
Quiet on transfers, calm on exits
Off the pitch, the noise around Celtic’s recruitment and potential departures continues, but Maloney’s role in that remains limited.
He does not expect any new faces to arrive before the Kilmarnock game, including the reported move for Oviedo’s Egyptian winger Haissem Hassan. Those discussions, he stressed, are still being handled directly between O’Neill and chief executive Michael Nicholson.
On the other side of the equation, Maloney is aware of interest in midfielder Arne Engels and right-back Alistair Johnston, but he sees no reason to plan without them for Sunday.
He expects them to be in the squad. He expects them to contribute.
What no one at Celtic will do is place expectations on O’Neill’s immediate return. The club’s season began with a narrow win and a familiar sense of control. The next step, at Rugby Park, might come with their manager on the touchline or watching from afar.
Either way, it will still feel like his team.
