THE last Celtic manager to lose a Premiership game to Rangers at Parkhead was sacked 24 hours later.
I am not advocating for a heartbeat that this is the brutal fate that should befall Martin O’Neill. The club legend will know when it’s time to go before any severe determinations are made for him.
However, there is absolutely no argument the decision-makers at the ailing champions should be looking to the future – and I’m not talking about June or July – to prepare the club for a fourth manager in a year or so.
It was October last year when Brendan Rodgers staged his abrupt farewell and left with a stinging rebuke from the club’s principal shareholder Dermot Desmond to help him on his way.
O’Neill answered the SOS to take over in an interim capacity before Wilfried Nancy’s bewildering appointment in early December.
The Frenchman, without any experience of the European game after four years in the MLS at CF Montreal and Columbus Crew, was a spectacular failure and he was heading for the departure lounge following six defeats in eight outings.
TRANSFIXED…Martin O’Neill watches Celtic toil for the third successive game.
His wretched 33 days in charge of the team hit the buffers after the miserable 3-1 nosedive against Danny Rohl’s Govan outfit in the first derby of the New Year at Parkhead.
Eight months later, no-one will be surprised to learn Nancy is still without a team as clubs throughout the globe resist the temptation of offering him a job.
As we are all aware, O’Neill once again was quick to answer another distress signal and, against all odds, the 74-year-old Irishman led the team through the minefield of a turbulent campaign to win an astonishing league and Cup double.
You do not lightly dispense with the services of an individual who has achieved such an improbable feat.
There is no chance of O’Neill facing an ignominious exit from Celtic.
At the same time, the club’s powerbrokers must be eyeing a successor. Jens Berthel Askou looked a likely candidate after his praiseworthy work at Motherwell as he transformed the team into an eye-catching outfit who played Celtic off the pitch in a 2-0 home success just five days before the inevitable axe fell on Nancy.
The Dane had done enough to attract the attention of Toulouse and the coach, 30 years O’Neill’s junior, was on his way to France in the summer. After a difficult settling-in period in Ligue 1, he appears to have steadied the ship.
You have to wonder if there is another Askou out there. If the North Lanarkshire club can dig up such a gem, surely Celtic have a scouting network to do something similar?
Following three defeats and three fragmented performances, it is only natural there are now frantic calls for signs of leadership at the club, on and off the pitch.
If my information is correct, Shaun Maloney, O’Neill’s right-hand man, does not want the post. Possibly after sackings at Hibs and Wigan in his time as a number one in the dug-out have put him off the possibility of reliving those experiences.
Without fail, the usual suspects will be trotted out. The bookies have made Neil Lennon the favourite for a third stint at Parkhead. Naturally, Scott Brown will get a mention as will former Scotland World Cup chief Steve Clarke. Ex-coach Damien Duff will be in the list somewhere.
Even the name of dear, old Roy Keane, an interested spectator at yesterday’s game, will pop up. This is the same Roy Keane who hasn’t managed a club since leaving Ipswich Town in January 2011.
His last involvement in football, apart from sitting on comfy chairs in the Sky Sports studio, was a five-month stint along with O’Neill at Nottingham Forest that ended in June 2018.
With the guts of three weeks to fill before the club action gets underway again with a Premiership match at Fir Park on Sunday October 11, the guessing game will go into full throttle. Uncle Tom Cobley could also emerge as a candidate at this rate.
FLASHPOINT…Martin O’Neill intervenes during a touchline spat between Derek McInnes and Mark Fotheringham that saw the protagonists booked by referee John Beaton.
In the midst of rampant conjecture, one thing is certain – Celtic need to be relentless and possibly inventive in their search for a new man at the helm.
The club cannot afford another seismic blunder of Wilfried Nancy proportions.
It is also obvious Celtic will need to be active in the January transfer window. A combative midfielder is a must. The team have lacked energy and drive from the middle of the park in recent games.
There is no-one to dig out the ball in a 50/50 challenge. That is no slight on captain Callum McGregor, but bone-shuddering challenges have never been his forte.
A left-back is a requirement and whoever made the decision not to get Marcelo Saracchi tied down on a permanent deal in the summer knows as much about football as I do about splitting an atom.
A central defender who can move and pass with a degree of accuracy would also be welcomed and if Kasper Hogh continues to make Adam Idah look like a world-beater, then another frontman wouldn’t go amiss.
Haissem Hassan looks good on the ball, but it’s just a pity the Egyptian winger persists in firing crosses to some imaginary team-mate at the opposite corner flag.
If Celtic are going to spend reasonable amounts in strengthening the squad, it might not be a bad idea that the guy who will be in charge next season has a say in the matter.
What would be the point of giving Joe Soap a lucrative five-year contract and the incoming manager takes one look, isn’t impressed and jettisons the player for the rest of his Hoops career?
There is no time to waste. We don’t need a knee-jerk reaction in the summer as the clock ticks down to a new season.
Surely that’s outwith the realms of possibility.
Isn’t it?
ALEX GORDON
HOOPS’ HAT-TRICK OF CATASTROPHE
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