O’Neill ready for Celtic farewell on Sunday

Martin O’Neill anticipates that Hibernian will be his final game since taking over as Celtic manager on a temporary basis.

The 73-year-old has won five of his six matches since being persuaded to step in after Brendan Rodgers resigned.

According to reports, the Scottish champions and Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy are close to a deal.

Something should be happening by the beginning of the next week given the direction that there is, and with a fair wind.

Celtic’s four-year quest for an away win in Europe came to an end with a 3-1 victory over Feyenoord on Thursday, while O’Neill and coach Shaun Maloney helped them reach the League Cup semi-finals after extra time against Rangers.

O’Neill described his interim spell as “truly enjoyable.”

The best part of all? He grinned and said, “Winning games.” That is unchangeable forever. Rangers who beat Rangers always make a difference.

From 2000 to 2005, O’Neill led Celtic, winning three league titles, three Scottish Cups, and one League Cup. They also advanced to the Uefa Cup final in 2003 thanks to him.

The former Northern Ireland international was delighted by his display against Feyenoord in the same competition despite his only defeat of the season coming away from Midtjylland in the Europa League.

He said, “I shouldn’t downplay the performance.” We were truly brilliant, I thought.

It was “as good as we’ve played in this country before.”

Since being fired by Nottingham Forest in June 2019, O’Neill had not run a club.

He said, “I was constantly thinking, “I could manage,” when I wasn’t managing. The appetite is constant. In my final days on earth, I’ll still be thinking, “okay, that’s okay, I’ll be able to do that.”

Dermot Desmond, the shareholder who gave me the job 25 years ago, said, “This is an opportunity that I have had.”

Liam Scales, the center-half, acknowledged that he was not well-versed in Frenchman Nancy, who had previously worked as a head coach for Montreal before joining MLS rivals Columbus Crew in 2022.

He thinks that O’Neill’s leadership will result in a strong squad and good results.

The Republic of Ireland defender said, “It’s been a crazy couple of weeks and we haven’t had much time to reflect.”

Transition can be difficult, but it’s been a good one.

He said, “We lacked confidence, and he’s done a lot to give players that confidence.”

We’re all very happy right now, but a permanent appointment would be nice.

“I think it’s a great one to enter,” he said. We want to return to the top of the league as we prepare for a League Cup final. We are still in a fight in Europe.