Martin O’Neill immediately rules out permanent Celtic job and admits ‘shock’ over return to replace Wilfried Nancy

Martin O’Neill has ruled out taking the Celtic job permanently after being named interim boss for the second time this season.

The 73-year-old was handed the reins at Celtic Park on Monday following the sacking of Wilfried Nancy after just 33 days into his two-and-a-half year deal.

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Nancy took over from O’Neill in early December as Celtic chiefs sought to plan for the future despite O’Neill having won seven of his eight games in charge following the departure of Brendan Rodgers.

O’Neill was quickly sworn back in on a deal until the end of the season with Celtic second in the Scottish Premiership – six points adrift of leaders Hearts.

Speaking exclusively to talkSPORT’s Jim White, O’Neill opened up on a rollercoaster 24 hours and admits he briefly stalled before agreeing to return to the club.

“Very similar circumstances again. Obviously the results just recently for the football club haven’t been great but it was still a bit of a shock and really just similar circumstances as before,” O’Neill said.

In two minds

When asked if there was any hesitation or partly thinking ‘I’ve been there, I’ve done that’, O’Neill said: “I think a bit of both. The latter part is something that went through my mind. Yes, been there before and can you come and resurrect it again?

“The same sort of thought process is concerned about whether you can win football matches. Mind you, I’ve had that there for about 30 or 40 years.”

“It is very difficult to say no to the man [Celtic majority shareholder, Dermot Desmond] who put me in charge way back 25 years ago.

“From that viewpoint, you mentioned hesitation, hesitation in the sense of whether you can come back again and win some games. But that’ll obviously be the case.”

No plans to become permanent boss

While it has proved to be a topsy-turvy season for O’Neill, the interim boss was clear on his stance that his tenure will only run until the end of the season, with no plans to take on the role on a permanent basis.

“I would not,” O’Neill said when asked if he could continue as boss next season. “I can’t see that for a start and I genuinely can’t. I don’t know whether I would have the energy and all that type of stuff.

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“I’ll just put everything into it now for these next couple of months and the same applies to me.

“If I don’t win football matches I’ll be straight under pressure and that starts here at the weekend.”

Despite suffering an abrupt end to his first interim tenure, the Northern Irishman has remained a keen observer of the Glasgow club.

Since O’Neill’s departure five weeks ago, Celtic have endured a torrid run of just two wins in eight games under Nancy.

That included the key home league defeats to title rivals Hearts and Rangers and a loss in the Scottish League Cup final to St Mirren.

The results worsened the fans’ already strained relationship with the board while sections of the Celtic support quickly called for Nancy’s sacking.

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And while the 48-year-old Frenchman will no doubt be reeling from his abrupt exit, O’Neill is certain Nancy will prove to be a success in the future.

O’ Neill’s sympathy for Nancy

“I draw the comparison or the parallel with myself when I went to Leicester City and couldn’t win a game early on in proceedings obviously the crowd were unsettled and it’s difficult at that stage,” O’Neill recalled.

“I got a little bit of luck. I won a couple of matches away from home in a period of a week. We won two midweek games at Charlton and another game at Crystal Palace and that helped quell things for a while.

“It was difficult and then sometimes when things are going badly it’s very very difficult to pull it round. I got a little bit of luck along the way and you know eight or nine games or whatever it was is not very long at all.

“I know in this day and age for managers the minute they step into a football club they have to win immediately.

“They know that’s very very difficult to do. Someone that comes in doesn’t know the players. that well has to learn.

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“Players have to learn what the manager wants to do. That takes a little bit of time and that’s really unfortunate, but in this day and age it’s instant results.”

Quizzed on where it went wrong for Nancy, O’Neill said: “Well that I don’t know. I genuinely don’t know but I know that there were a couple of games that I saw where had they scored the second goal when they’ve taken the lead they could have put the games beyond the opposition and then some the opposition somewhere along the way get an equalising goal and then things happen.

“You lose a little bit of confidence in things like that there. Even last week in the Rangers game, Celtic dominated proceedings and scored – they could easily have scored a second goal.

“The Rangers goalkeeper made some really great saves. Rangers get back into it in the second half and then confidence drops almost immediately. That’s what happens when you’re not winning football games, players’ confidence no matter how good they are and it seems to disintegrate.”

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In any other campaign, nothing less that title glory would suffice for Celtic. That may still be the case this season, however O’Neill opted to keep this season’s remit under wraps when asked whether he has been tasked with delivering another league title.

“Don’t I? That has not been something that’s been put to me. We have to try and find it’ll be very very difficult,” he said.

“We’re behind. Rangers have caught up now as well too and so it will be difficult but it is a challenge for us.

“I think that we would have to supplement the squad (in January) and in some capacity we would have to do that there if it’s at all possible and that would be something you only have this period of time.

“We all know that January transfer windows are difficult to get the players that you’d probably want to the football club. We do need to supplement it and we’re going to all like to try and do that.”