On Sunday, Martin O’Neill appears to be leading Celtic for the last time.
One of the club’s most successful managers, the Parkhead great has won five of his six games since temporarily replacing Brendan Rodgers.
Despite his significant influence, he is anticipated to relinquish control to Wilfried Nancy early next week, as the Columbus Crew manager is almost certain to be confirmed. After speaking with the Celtic board, O’Neill has now laid out the schedule.
With a spectacular victory over Feyenoord in Rotterdam, O’Neill gave Celtic a new lease of life in the Europa League. He has also been working to close the gap in the Scottish Premiership title race, with the goal of doing so this weekend.
After six years away from sport, his brief but spectacular comeback seems to be coming to an end. Prior to Sunday’s game in Edinburgh, he stated that he anticipates his replacement arriving the following week. In response to Sky Sports’ question on whether anything could change following the weekend match, he said:
Indeed, I suppose. Last night, I spoke with a few board members, and everything is going smoothly. I’m hoping that by early next week, everything will be set up.
Accordingly, Nancy’s first match is scheduled for next week at Celtic Park versus Dundee. He might even be present at Sunday’s game at Easter Road, albeit the precise time of his formal introduction is still unknown.
In any case, Nancy will start getting his staff ready for a hard run of fixtures right away. There won’t be a gradual transition to life at Celtic because he will play Hearts, Roma, and the League Cup final in fast succession after his debut.
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