Martin O’Neill believes Brendan Rodgers will stay at Celtic beyond next summer — and wouldn’t be surprised if an agreement in principle has already been reached with powerbroker Dermot Desmond.
Now into the last year of a three-season deal, the manager has insisted he’s happy at the club, but last week stressed that he isn’t interested in sticking around simply to ‘maintain something’.
With Rodgers’ situation unresolved and the club’s transfer activity slow so far in this window, there are growing concerns among supporters that both situations are connected.
But O’Neill, who dealt with Desmond directly while manager at Parkhead between 2000 and 2005, expects the contractual matter to be resolved sooner rather than later.
‘I think from the fans’ viewpoint, that’s something that they would probably like to see as there’s a bit of uncertainty around it,’ said O’Neill.
‘I don’t know Brendan’s situation as I’ve not been speaking to him about that — that is none of my business. But I do know the fellow he’s dealing with and that would be Dermot.
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has been at the centre of intense speculation about his future
Major shareholder Dermot Desmond (centre) is a man of his word, insists O’Neill
O’Neill insists he would have continued to manage Celtic had it not been for his wife’s illness
‘I would think from a distance that Dermot would want Brendan to stay at the football club.
‘Brendan had an excellent season last year in getting through in the Champions League. I think he would want to try and push even further to try and make that second group stage.
‘So, I can only imagine that there is a mutual feeling between the two of them. I would be very surprised myself if Brendan were to leave.
‘If Dermot puts something to him and he wants him to stay at the football club, he’ll do his very, very best to keep him.’
While Rodgers has yet to put pen to paper on a new deal, O’Neill wouldn’t be surprised if a verbal agreement is already in place.
‘I don’t want to sound incredibly sycophantic here about Dermot, but if you do come to an agreement with Dermot in August and nothing happens in October, I would still say that that’s still on,’ he added.
‘That’s my view and that is a kind of biased view. I think I might have signed a contract one time in January when it might have been agreed in August time. It genuinely didn’t really bother me.’
Rodgers has intimated frustration over his club’s transfer dealings… and not for the first time
O’Neill rejects the theory that Rodgers might feel as if he’s done his stint in the Glasgow goldfish bowl by the time he clocks up five-and-a-half years across two spells come 2026.
‘Honestly, I never felt that at all,’ said O’Neill, who departed in 2005 to care for his wife Geraldine, who had lymphoma. ‘I would have eventually outstayed my welcome, but that would have been to do with results.
‘If my wife had been well enough, absolutely I would have stayed.’
While defender Jahmai Simpson-Pusey this week completed his season-long loan from Manchester City, Celtic’s summer arrivals to date have largely been development projects like Callum Osmand and Shin Yamada.
Still to adequately replace Kyogo Furuhashi and Nicolas Kuhn, the Parkhead club can only sign players up to next Thursday for them to be eligible to play in their Champions League play-off tie.
Asked if he had doubts about Desmond’s desire to see Celtic make further strides in Europe, though, O’Neill replied: ‘Absolutely no question about it. Dermot will have a vision of the football club.
‘But as a club owner or as a major shareholder and the person who’s making the decisions, he might see going forward in a different light than the manager.
O’Neill won three Scottish titles, three Scottish Cups and a League Cup during his time at Celtic
‘He might not always think that spending £14-£15million on a player is necessarily the way to go, and we’d have to say that in terms of the dealings in recent times, he might be right.
‘Now, I don’t know what players Brendan’s looking for. But he’ll be looking to improve the team, I’m quite sure of that.
‘He set a standard there last season and he will obviously want to surpass that, you know?
‘If I turn the clock back to me, every season I was always looking for more players, for the exact same reasons that Brendan’s talking about.
‘You have to keep on improving. They’ll definitely have players in.’
■ Martin O’Neill was promoting Premier Sports’ coverage of Scottish football including over 80 matches from the Scottish Premiership, Premier Sports Cup, Scottish Cup and KDM Evolution Trophy. Fans can watch an entire season of football for only £99 using promo code PSCUP25.
