“He’s pulled the club back together when it was fractured,” Callum McGregor

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The Celtic Star

·24 April 2026

“He’s pulled the club back together when it was fractured,” Callum McGregor

Callum McGregor has voiced his support for Martin O’Neill as a candidate for the Celtic managerial position next season, contingent on the team achieving a league and cup double in the coming weeks…

With the Hoops sitting just three points off the top of the table and having secured a place in the Scottish Cup final last weekend, McGregor praised the 74-year-old for his influence on the team.

Speaking at a post-split SPFL event, McGregor said via Celtic TV: “I don’t think anyone can actually underestimate how good a job he’s done. He’s pulled the club back together when it was fractured.

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“He’s overseen a run of really good results, performances have been getting better all the time, and that’s from a disjointed start point. It’s never ever been perfect, but the job is to win games, and he’s shown that in spades.

Martin O’Neill during Celtic’s 6-2 Scottish Cup semi-final win over St Mirren at Hampden on Sunday 19 April 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou

“He’s shown he can do it, he can get a tune out of the players, and if you do go on and be successful, and hopefully we can go and win the cup as well, then what an amazing season.”

Speaking on O’Neill’s future at the club, McGregor said: “Then, as you said, it states his credentials for the job moving forward. The one thing that I will say is the players are fully behind him, Shaun [Maloney], Fozzy [Mark Fotheringham], Gav [Gavin Strachan], and Mick [Stephen McManus].

Celtic v Falkirk 29.10.2025 Scottish Premiership. Martin O’Neill, Shaun Maloney, Gavin Strachan and Mark Fotheringham Photo Kenny Ramsay IMAGO

“They’ve been amazing over their two spells, so the players would ultimately back that. What a great job he would have done, if we do stand with two trophies at the end of the season.”

Heading into the final five league games of the season, the Celtic skipper added: “It seems all doom and gloom just now but we’re maybe only five weeks away from turning that around. Then all of a sudden, bang, everyone is back.

“Hopefully we’re back in the Champions League and then everyone is asking ‘What happened there?’. It can very, very quickly change. Momentum is an amazing thing in football, it can take off so quickly.

“I don’t want to speak too soon, but it’s like you’re one result away really from being top of the league if being right in the conversation. So, despite all the noise, all the circus a wee bit this year, we’re still only three points behind the leaders. That kind of tells you where it’s at.”

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Conor Spence

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