Paul John Dykes and Kevin Graham discussed potential replacements for under pressure Celtic manager Neil Lennon on the most recent edition of A Celtic State of Mind podcast and during the show, Graham talked about his “fear” over the possibility that ex-Hoops boss Martin O’Neill and ex-Celtic player Roy Keane will take charge at Parkhead should Lennon depart from the club.
Some rumours recently surfaced that the Glasgow club has been planning on bringing O’Neill and Keane, who has worked with O’Neill as the ex-Hoops boss’ assistant manager consistently over the last decade, back to Parkhead should the Glasgow club part ways with Lennon.
O’Neill was successful during his time at Parkhead, with the Northern Irishman putting the Glasgow club ‘back on the map,’ as per the BBC.
However, despite that, Graham wasn’t thrilled by the idea of O’Neill returning alongside Keane during this podcast. He said: “The new gaffer can come in and if he’s got the right motivational tools, he can say to them – ‘look, you get us over the line and we’ll be extremely easy to deal with in the summer.’
“It depends on what gaffer that they bring in. My fear, if it’s a Dermot Desmond production, is Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane, right? Which, for me, would only be short-term.
“That would only be a short-term deal but if you brought in a longer-term manager, then I would expect that manager to maybe [say] to those four players – ‘I’m quite happy for you to leave in January so I can build my own squad because I’ve got assurances that I’m going to be here longer-term, I’m going to be here far longer than you.’
“Whereas if it was Martin O’Neill [and] Roy Keane, you’re trying to convince the players to actually stay for the good of the jersey and I don’t think that’ll work anymore.”
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TIF Thoughts on what Graham had to say about O’Neill and Keane…
While O’Neill’s most recent job in management – which saw him take charge of Nottingham Forest from January 2019 until June of that year – was short-lived, it may be fair to say that he has enjoyed plenty of longer managerial spells during his career, one being his time as Hoops boss which lasted from the summer of 2000 until the summer of 2005.
So, with that in mind, it’s clearly not unprecedented for O’Neill to manage a club for a longer period of time and perhaps there is no reason to believe that he would only be a short-term appointment if the club did move for him.
Additionally, perhaps there is no need for Graham to “fear” that O’Neill would try to convince Celtic’s current players to stay instead of being open to doing a rebuilding job in the middle of a season in which they are pursuing a potentially historic 10th straight Scottish top-flight title, as undertaking a mid-season rebuild in such an important campaign could be riskier than just trying to right the ship with the Hoops’ current crop of players.
As a result, we feel that Graham’s concerns about a potential O’Neill and Keane duo taking charge at Parkhead aren’t entirely fair.