Martin O’Neill to reflect on his future during international break | OneFootball

After today’s painful Glasgow Derby defeat, the club’s third consecutive defeat and second to our bitter rivals in a week, Martin O’Neill has revealed that he will take stock on his future…

James Penrice of Rangers reacts after a challenge from Callum McGregor of Celtic during the Scottish Premiership 2026/27 match between Celtic and Glasgow Rangers at Celtic Park on September 20, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

The 74 year-old Irishman has came under further scrutiny today following the 1-0 Celtic Park defeat which cut Celtic’s lead at the top to just two points.

It was yet another lacklustre and disjointed performance and after the dust had settle Martin O’Neill spoke of entering a period of self reflection.

The Celtic boss said at his post match media conference: “I will reflect on the games. I’ll obviously speak to the board. And you never know, they may want to speak to me. But yeah, I’ll see. I’ve got some time to do that.

“I will have a look, try and get a couple of days away and see how it goes.”

Asked what would happen if he reflected then decided he could not improve the team, O’Neill replied: “By that time, I will promise you, I’ll let you know.

“I don’t know. I’ll have a look.”

Martin also addressed the growing concern and negativity amongst the Celtic support saying: “Well, I think they’re absolutely entitled. I mentioned this to you on Friday, absolutely entitled to, of course. And I’m not immune from criticism. Far from it. Absolutely and utterly far from it.

“I think there’s every reason to ask, ‘can you turn this round? Can you change the whole thing?’ We are, as I said, two points clear, so I have to kind of look at the bigger picture at this minute.

“But I knew that we were in a big, big fight anyway, with both ourselves, Rangers and Hearts again, who are far from out of anything.

“It’s a long season ahead. It’s not the first time I’ve been questioned about my managerial time. So, yeah, I’ll have a look at it. I will reflect and see.”

Cameron Carter-Vickers of Celtic vies with Ryan Naderi of Rangers during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and the Rangers at Celtic Park on September 20, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Martin also spoke more about his future at his post match media conference following the 1-0 defeat to the Rangers. Here’s how the media conference ended and as you will see he seemed to move closer to calling it a day.

Q: Can I just clarify as well? Seeing you talk about self-reflection, is this you self-reflecting on whether you will continue?

Martin O’Neill: “Self-reflection is on looking at the games.

Q: Not your own personal position?

Martin O’Neill:  “I will reflect on the games. I’ll obviously speak to the board. And you never know, they may want to speak to me. But, yeah, I’ll see. I’ve got some time to do that there. I’ve got a short break in the summer time. So I will have a look, try and get a couple of days away and see how it goes.”

Q: What happens if you reflect at the end of the week and you’ve decided you can’t improve the team?

Martin O’Neill:  “By that time, I will promise you, I’ll let you know. I don’t know. I’ll have a look.”

Q: You just said there about wrapping it up. Have you thought about that?

Martin O’Neill:  “Me? Well, first of all, let me put it, let me generalise a little bit. First of all, I got an opportunity to come back here last October, which I never thought would ever happen in my life. So I’m really grateful for that.

“And then I get the chance again in January to do it again, second time around. And as it turns out, us winning the league was like, I don’t know, I can’t remember how we won the treble way back in 2001. I can’t remember how I felt. I must have felt really pretty good about it. But I think the game against Hearts was probably one of the great moments of my managerial time. I’ve had some really, really good moments and I’ve had some pretty poor moments.

Kevin Kelsy of the Rangers has his shot at goal blocked by Cameron Carter-Vickers of Celtic during the Scottish Premiershipmatch between Celtic and the Rangers at Celtic Park on September 20, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

“So, yeah, when that was good, I’m thankful for that. I was delighted to get that opportunity. But all the time I was still even thinking about, you know, whether you can still have the energy, desire, the things that I say to the boys here every Friday that we talk about.

“So I’ll have a look at that and see.”

Q: Right now, do you feel that you still do have that energy and desire to keep going?

Martin O’Neill:  “I’ll have a look, yeah. I wish I was your age. I do, genuinely. You look up at me and, how old are you again?”

Answer: 24.

Martin O’Neill: “Oh, you’re a child. I honestly wish I was 24 again. There’s nothing great about getting old. I promise you that. Mick Jagger told me that. He didn’t tell me directly. I didn’t speak to Mick Jagger. I’ve never spoken to Mick Jagger in my life. He wouldn’t have a clue who I am. But at the end of the day, there isn’t anything good about getting old.”

Just an Ordinary Bhoy

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