"I don’t know. I’ll have a look." Martin O'Neill left Celtic’s immediate future open after the 0-1 Premiership derby defeat by Rangers at Parkhead. He said he will reflect, speak to the board and take a couple of days away before deciding whether he can still turn things around.
O'Neill's next steps
The Celtic boss said: "I will reflect on the games." He also added: "I’ll obviously speak to the board. And you never know, they may want to speak to me. But yeah, I’ll see. I’ve got some time to do that."
O'Neill is 74 and is in his second spell as permanent manager after two interim spells last season. He also accepted the obvious question hanging over his position, saying: "I think there’s every reason to ask, 'can you turn this round? Can you change the whole thing?’"
The defeat keeps the pressure on without changing the basic table state. Celtic are still top of the Premiership, and O'Neill said the gap is two points with Rangers and Hearts still in the title fight.
The derby that prompted the pause
Ryan Naderi scored the only goal with a first-half strike in the 33rd minute, and Rangers held on for a 1-0 win in Celtic vs Rangers. Derek McInnes called it "a thoroughly deserved three points" and said it was "very important" in the context of the season.
He also pointed to the size of the moment for his squad. "So it was important to close that gap and also – with such a young squad – having the belief and confidence to win a game in this environment," he said.
McInnes added that Rangers should have done more damage after the breakthrough: "Although we won 1-0, we should have scored more and added to it."
For Celtic, the clean sheet against them and the home defeat will matter less than what comes next from the manager. O'Neill has already said he will step back, speak to the board and decide after a couple of days away, with the Parkhead loss now sitting at the centre of that call.
Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
