THE countdown to the conclusion of Martin O’Neill’s interim period in charge of Celtic is underway.
The Irishman will have to address nine Premiership games and, hopefully, two Scottish Cup-ties before he says a final farewell after his dramatic return on two occasions during the champions’ turbulent season.
O’Neill first stepped up in late October following the rapid exit of Brendan Rodgers after two back-to-back league defeats against Dundee, 2-0 at Dens Park, and Hearts, 3-1 at Tynecastle.
The genial stand-in gaffer led the team to seven wins – including a 3-1 success over Rangers in the Premier Sports League Cup semi-final – in eight games before making way for Wilfried Nancy.
CRASH-LANDING…Daizen Maeda is sent flying following a challenge from Dujon Sterling as Martin O’Neill and his opposite number Danny Rohl look on.
The Frenchman lasted just 33 days in the post and, following a catastrophic series of results, was axed with O’Neill answering the club’s SOS for the second time in early January.
He will be in the dug-out again on Saturday when Motherwell provide the competition for the seventeenth game of his second comeback.
Until yesterday’s gruelling Scottish Cup quarter-final at Ibrox, O’Neill had won 10, drawn three and lost two in a reasonable sequence of results, considering he inherited a shambles from Nancy with the players in despondent mood following six losses in eight outings.
As the pressure mounts, the veteran team chief was caught up in the mayhem after the team’s 4-2 penalty-kick shoot-out victory over Danny Rohl’s side.
O’Neill admitted: “I just said well done to the team and I went into my own little room to cool down.
“My heart’s beating at a rate that a 74-year-old’s shouldn’t be doing.”
MAKING A POINT…Martin O’Neill offers instructions from the touchline.
The Hoops are five points behind leaders Hearts and O’Neill revealed he had spied on Saturday’s rivals when they lost 2-1 at Dens Park 24 hours before the derby confrontation in Govan.
Asked what the spot-kick victory at Ibrox might mean for the rest of the season, O’Neill, speaking to The Scotsman, added: “There are going to be twists and turns.
“I went to Dundee with Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham to watch the game.
“We’ve got Motherwell next, which will not be easy for us. So, I honestly don’t know.”
After four games on the road in 10 days – Ibrox twice, Stuttgart and Pittodrie – O’Neill will welcome a return to Paradise on Saturday.
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