Celtic's Managerial Situation Ahead of Kilmarnock Clash
Celtic will travel to Kilmarnock on Sunday with their manager’s presence still in doubt and their assistant very clear on one thing: Martin O’Neill decides.
Shaun Maloney confirmed the 74-year-old, who underwent what the club have described as a “small procedure” in hospital, has set no return date and will judge for himself whether he is well enough to take his place in the Rugby Park dugout.
“There is no timeline,” Maloney made plain. “He’ll make the call.”
O’Neill was discharged from hospital on Thursday, just days after starting the Scottish Premiership campaign on the touchline in Monday’s 1-0 win over Dundee. Maloney visited him the same evening and found a very different figure to the one who had worried the club earlier in the week.
“It was really positive,” he said. “He was in good form – loads better than he was Monday, Tuesday. Hopefully that sort of positive feeling he has continues.”
The optimism comes with a caveat. O’Neill’s involvement against Kilmarnock remains a day-to-day decision.
“Even for the game at the weekend, it’s sort of day-to-day,” Maloney explained. “We saw him last night with regards to the preparation for the game and then he wasn’t in today.
“I’ll speak to him this afternoon and then he’ll make a call for tomorrow. And then I’d imagine he’ll make the call for the game at the weekend.
“But, if it’s this weekend, great. If it isn’t, then we’ll prepare for it with that one.”
O’Neill, handed a one-year contract at the start of the season after delivering a league and cup Double in two spells as caretaker last term, has quickly re-established himself as the central figure at Lennoxtown. His absence, even for a single match, would be felt.
Maloney, who has previously managed Hibernian and Wigan, did not hide that stepping up at Rugby Park would feel unusual.
“It would be strange,” he admitted. “We’ll definitely miss him if he’s not there but you also have to respect what’s happened the last few days.
“The impact that he’s had over, what was it, since October, it’s been nothing short of incredible really – the things that he does with the players and the staff.
“So we will miss him, but we’ll be prepared. We’ve got some brilliant senior players, but we’ll see. We’ll let him make the call.”
While O’Neill’s short-term involvement remains uncertain, Celtic’s squad for Sunday looks more settled than the rumour mill might suggest.
Maloney does not expect any new faces to arrive before the trip to Kilmarnock, despite reports of a move for Oviedo’s Egyptian winger Haissem Hassan. Recruitment, he stressed, remains firmly in O’Neill’s hands alongside chief executive Michael Nicholson.
Those same transfer whispers have swirled around current squad members. Maloney acknowledged interest in midfielder Arne Engels and right-back Alistair Johnston but has been given no indication that either will be missing at the weekend.
He expects them to be available, part of a group that has already shown under O’Neill that it can carry the weight of expectation.
Whether the manager is in his usual technical area or watching from a distance, the standards he has set since October will travel with them. The only question now is whether the man who revived Celtic’s season last year feels ready to lead from the front again, or whether, for one weekend at least, his team must show they can win while he watches on.
