You can't judge a manager on the basis of two games, but it has been a very good start for Martin O'Neill since being put in interim charge of Celtic following Brendan Rodgers' resignation. For all intents and purposes, it had looked like he was retired, having not managed since 2019 and moved into punditry instead. But the club icon did answer the call in an hour of need and thankfully so.
The 4-0 win over Falkirk was a confidence booster. But the 3-1 victory against the Rangers has the potential to turn around Celtic's season.
Of course, O'Neill's Celtic are a work in progress. Despite the good performance, they wasted a lot of opportunities against the Rangers and should never have allowed the game to drag into extra-time, especially with Danny Rohl's side down to ten men for so long.
Ultimately, they did get the job done to book their place in the Scottish League Cup final. After how bad things had gotten lately, that is all that matters. And it looks like the win might have changed O'Neill's future as well.
Celtic make Martin O'Neill U-turn after win against Rangers
As reported by Football Insider, Celtic are edging closer to appointing O’Neill as the permanent manager following their Scottish League Cup win over Rangers. He is increasingly attracted to taking the job until the end of the season.
Of course, that is still not set in stone. A lot will depend on the upcoming results as well. But it is very clear that O'Neill has steadied the ship and deserves a ton of credit for doing so.
As for Celtic, handing him the job until the end of the season might not be a bad idea if the results continue coming. The issue with appointing a permanent manager right now is that a lot of the options that they would like to speak to are not available or willing to move in the middle of the campaign.
That being said, a few interesting names could soon become available and are worth considering. One of them is Kjetil Knutsen, whose current deal runs out at the end of the year. He has done a remarkable job as Bodo/Glimt manager since 2018 and could be perfect for Celtic, if provided the right conditions to succeed. Perhaps Ange Postecoglou could be more option to returning as well, once he has had a little break after being sacked twice in quick succession.