Former Celtic striker questions who is ‘pulling the strings’ under Martin O’Neill | OneFootball

Frank McAvennie has doubled down on his doubts over whether Martin O’Neill has complete control of Celtic’s team selection.

The former Hoops striker first raised eyebrows following Celtic’s disastrous Champions League exit to LASK when he suggested assistant Shaun Maloney could have a significant influence over the side.

Those comments sparked plenty of debate over the structure of O’Neill’s coaching staff, and McAvennie has now reiterated his stance following Celtic’s latest damaging defeat.

Speaking on the STV Radio Football Podcast, McAvennie was pushed on the claim by Ewen Cameron, explaining: “Well, it’s not exactly what I said. It wasn’t.

“If you look at what I was saying, I said ‘I don’t know if he’s picking the team’.

“Because we’ve all watched football. I watched Martin O’Neill, and Martin O’Neill is one manager that I’d run through a brick wall for.

“I thought he was brilliant when he was at Celtic. I seen him when he was at Leicester. Not once did I see them passing across the back that many times.

“Not once did I see people going down the wing and not crossing it into the box. That’s why I was saying: ‘is there somebody else pulling the strings here?’

“Martin’s old now, isn’t he? He’s the manager of the team; he’s the figurehead. He obviously doesn’t do the training, he never did. Stevie Walford and John Robertson done it.

“So nothing’s changed there. But I’m just thinking: ‘What is Martin thinking about when he sees Liam Scales passing it across the back?’

“I don’t know if he’s picking the team, because yesterday I’m screaming at the TV to change the formation. It never happened.

“And I’ve seen Martin change a couple of times in a game. So I’m thinking maybe Shaun [Maloney] has got a big part to play.

“It’s not a problem if that’s the case, but we need somebody that can change.”

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