What Celtic should do is the following. Announce an extension to the interim O’Neill period that goes at least up to November 23rd.
Then they can decide another extension to the interim period to take in December 14th. Then you let inevitability take its course.
Football has an essential element of sentiment. If it doesn’t have that it has nothing.
What Martin O’Neill epitomises is the idea of the Super Dad, now Super Grandad persona. The type of manager who and GETS a club and comes in and immediately the supporters of that club are mentally lathered in a warm, soothing balm. The balm of “everything’s going to be fine”, because Super Dad/Super Grandad is minding us, and he knows.
As the song goes, we’ve got Jack to mind us and the fans behind us.
The mental image all Celtic supporters have of Martin O’Neill is of O’Neill intensely staring as Henrik Larsson applies the finishing touch to a ball that the Celtic Park crowd are literally sucking into the net on a BIG European night which is all of October 2001 and March 2003 and March 2004 against Juventus and Liverpool and Barcelona, and O’Neill doing a little run and then a jump into the air with his arms high into the air.
Celtic supporters want Martin O’Neill to remain as Celtic manager for the same reasons they want to attend Oasis concerts in 2025. They cannot forget how this person made them feel.
What Celtic supporters imagine is that Martin O’Neill is an all knowing, otherworldy force.
You have to allow this force proceed.
Martin O’Neill at Celtic is BIGNESS. If ever a club needed BIGNESS, it’s Celtic right now.
But at the same time, given Martin O’Neill’s age and the fact that he is not a tactics guy - he’s a “you go out and play for me and you will be guided by the force” guy, you have to create the impression that this return of the otherworldly force is non-permanent.
You have to create the impression that this force is ephemeral and under threat and is about to depart. That is what makes the force more potent.
Celtic need to proceed in short steps. This is not a time for “stability”. This is a time when you carefully channel the emotion in a particular way to make the emotion the most potent it can be.