Welsh FA dampen Bellamy to Celtic story, Martin waits on Dermot Desmond

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The Celtic Star

·4 novembre 2025

Welsh FA dampen Bellamy to Celtic story, Martin waits on Dermot Desmond

The Welsh FA have issued a hands off warning to Celtic amid reports linking their international manager Craig Bellamy with the Celtic job following Brendan Rodgers’ shock resignation just over a week ago…

Celtic’s Craig Bellamy beats Rangers’ Marvin Andrews to the ball during the Scottish Premier League match between Celtic and Rangers on February 20, 2005 at Celtic Park. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Welsh FA chief executive Noel Mooney has spoken about the reports linking his national team manager with a move back to Celtic but insists that Bellamy is going nowhere as he is fully focused on getting Wales through to the World Cup finals in Canada, USA and Mexico next summer.

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Wales, North Macedonia and Belgium are currently fighting it out for the automatic qualification spot and also the place in the play-offs. Mooney said, as reported by Daily Record: “He’s a year and a bit into the job of a four-year contract and we’re completely focused on going to the World Cup next year.”

Craig Bellamy, Head Coach of Wales, reacts during the Group J FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier match between Wales and Belgium at Cardiff City Stadium on October 13, 2025 in Cardiff, Wales. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Martin O’Neill has come in and steadied the ship at Parkhead after Rodgers suffered back-to-back away defeats in the Scottish Premiership against Dundee at Dens Park and leaders Hearts at Tynecastle.

O’Neill, who managed Celtic for the first five years of the century, took care of Falkirk at Celtic Park on his first game in charge of Celtic for twenty years with an entertaining 4-0 win that set the Premier Sports Cup holders up for the semi-final against theRangers at Hampden at the weekend.

Martin O’Neill with Kasper Schmeichel. Celtic v theRangers. Premier Sports Cup, semi final at Hampden. 2 November 2025. Photo AJ (The Celtic Star)

Celtic won that one too, this time by 3-1 to earn O’Neill the chance to lift some silverware, even if his time as interim manager is going to be short. There are increasing calls from within the Celtic support to give Martin along with his former player Shaun Maloney the job on a permanent basis, or at least until the end of the season.

O’Neill and Maloney both emphasised at the ‘welcome back to Celtic’ media conference last Tuesday that they were merely holding the fort and both would go back their previous roles, Maloney as Pathways manager at the club and O’Neill to his punditry work including at talkSport.

Martin O’Neill during the Premier Sports Cup Semi Final match between Celtic and Rangers at Hampden Park on November 02, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

However the 73 year old speaking to talkSport yesterday clearly is now in two minds but doesn’t yet dare to dream about Dermot Desmond’s name coming up on his mobile to offer him a longer stay.

O’Neill had this to say when asked if he fancied staying on longer than initially intended: “The very obvious answer would be yes, I would do. But I genuinely don’t know what to expect. When I saw the games they had and then the international break, I thought they’ll have a couple of weeks to think about it.

“I haven’t even spoken to him since that. In a perverse sort of way I’ve enjoyed the two games – but not a lot. I have had no indication, genuinely no indication whatsoever at this minute. None at all.

“I don’t think there’ll be that conversation. I genuinely don’t think that would be the case.”

Alfred Dunhill Links Championship 2024 Dermot Desmond and Thorbjorn Olesen DEN winners of the team event receiving there silver salvour from Peter Dawson Alfred Dunhill Links Trust after the final round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship 2024 on the Old Course at St. Andrews Golf CLub, Fife, Scotland. 06/10/2024. Picture Fran Caffrey / Golffile.ie

Yet Dermot Desmond ruffled more that a few feathers among the Celtic support last week, although there was also a sizeable percentage who backed everything he had to say in his take-down of Brendan Rodgers.

O’Neill and Maloney delivered Celtic’s first win over theRangers in 2025 and it was done in some style. It also neutered theRangers tactical masterplan to beat Celtic’s possession based system under Rodgers. Instead they faced a Celtic side on the front foot, hungry to get the ball forward as quickly as possible and in both matches so far the support has loved what they are seeing.

So why not go for more of the same and then review matters at the end of the campaign? Plenty of Celtic supporters would back that and you’d think that if Martin O’Neill wins the two matches before the international break, against FC Midtjylland in the Europa League on Thursday evening and Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership at Celtic Park on Sunday then the clamour to keep Martin in charge is going to be very loud indeed.

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Celtic in the Eighties and Willie Fernie – Putting on the Style both by David Potter. Photo The Celtic Star

Danny McGrain signing copies of Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter. Photo: Celtic Star Books