Martin O’Neill a whipping boy for club with deep structural issues | OneFootball

Martin O’Neill a whipping boy for club with deep structural issues says Herald journalist Stephen McGowan…

Martin O’Neill arrives at the stadium. Celtic v Rangers. Scottish Premiership. 20 September 2026. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

So is Martin O’Neill the “whipping boy” of a “slightly dysfunctional football club”?

He is according to Herald football writer Stephen McGowan who has had his say with the Irishman said to be pondering his future after three successive losses across three different competitions in the space of seven days.

“If you’re talking about whether O’Neill will stay on or not, there’s various things he has to consider,” says McGowan states.

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill looks on during the Scottish Premiership 2026/27 match between Celtic and the Rangers at Celtic Park on September 20, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

“He has to consider whether he can still get a tune out of this group of players, but also whether he wants to continue being the frontman for this slightly dysfunctional football club,” McGowan states.

30th December 2025; Fir Park, Scottish Premiership, Motherwell versus Celtic; Chris McKay of Celtic chats to Head of Football operations for Celtic Paul Tisdale. Photo Vagelis Georgariou.

“They don’t have a director of football. They’ve not replaced Paul Tisdale, the head of recruitment.

“I’m not absolutely certain if they’ve replaced Jay Lefevre, who left for Swansea and was the kind of chief scout. Not officially anyway because they don’t really communicate, they don’t tell you, and that’s the point – O’Neil has become this lightning rod for the frustration of supporters because he is the only person putting his head above the parapet.

Brian Wilson, Dermot Desmond and Michael Nicholson overseeing 2 x £40m Champions League misses…

“The directors don’t do that. Dermot Desmond doesn’t do that. Michael Nicholson doesn’t do it. It all falls to O’Neill to almost take that frustration on the chin.

“That is one of the concerns I think people have, whether he should continue to be the kind of whipping boy for this club which has more deep structural issues.

McGowan also stated that Celtic’s problems go beyond what’s happening in the dugout, which would lead to the Irishman making a decision in regard to calling it a day.

“The problems Celtic have go beyond the technical area. And I think that’s one of the things he needs to ask himself, whether he wants to continue being that guy or whether actually he thinks, you know what, I don’t really need this.”

Brendan Rodgers, Manager of Celtic, applauds prior to the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Knockout Play-off second leg match between FC Bayern München and Celtic FC at Allianz Arena on February 18, 2025 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

Martin O’Neill delivered the most unlikely of doubles last year with the Scottish Premiership last day triumph over Hearts going to be remembered forever by the Celtic support. However that merely pasted over the cracks after a season which started with Brendan Rodgers pleading for summer signings to push on from the performance against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

Kieran Tierney of Celtic reacts during the UEFA Champions League Play-offs Round First Leg match between Celtic and Kairat Almaty at Celtic Park on August 20, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Rodgers then say his side exit the Champions League against Kairat Almaty before starting to run out of steam in the Scottish Premiership with defeats to Dundee and then Hearts. His resignation was followed by the most extraordinary rant from non executive director Dermot Desmond on the official Celtic website.

Brian Wilson, Dermot Desmond and Michael Nicholson overseeing 2 x £40m Champions League misses…

After the events of the past week many Celtic fans are seeing the Rodgers exit in an entirely different light as Martin O’Neill is left to deal with the huge pressure of communicating for the club – not just the manager – on his own.

30th December 2025; Fir Park, Motherwell, Scotland; Scottish Premiership Football, Motherwell versus Celtic; Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy

Dermot Desmond gave Wilfried Nancy the Celtic job and we had a similar run of results including a lost cup final against St Mirren, a schooling at Motherwell and a Glasgow Derby defeat against the Rangers. And don’t forget Roma ran away with it in the first half of a Europa League match at Celtic Park.

So the wheels came off for an elite coach like Rodgers, then for the rookie Frenchman who should have been nowhere near the Celtic job and now for an absolute legend in Martin O’Neill, who was always going to be a short term appointment when taking the job in the summer and quickly stating that it would be definitely one year only despite both the club and himself having a further one year option.

Neil Lennon and Martin O’Neill at Hampden after Celtic’s 6-2 win over St Mirren in the Scottish Cup semi-final on Sunday 19 April 2026. Photo Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou

When you burn so many bridges where do you go next? Perhaps that’s why the bookies immediately made Neil Lennon the favourite and Scott Brown is high in the betting, despite having been sacked at both Fleetwood Town and Ayr United.

18th April 2026; Hampden Scottish Cup, Dunfermline Athletic versus Falkirk; Scott Brown gives a thumbs up next to the Scottish Cup. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

If Martin does hand in his resignation after his well deserved family break Celtic should pay up his entire contract value for the season and perhaps the next too. Then who Dermot Desmond phones to step in will be interesting to say the least.

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