With the season over and planning already expected to be underway for months, Celtic have narrowed their managerial search to a two-man shortlist: Martin O’Neill and Robbie Keane. The club’s next appointment—whether a safe pair of hands or a younger, modern op
Celtic have known for the best part of six months that a new manager was coming at the end of the season. They’ve had time to draw up candidates and move decisively. Big clubs don’t wait. They act.
The trouble for Celtic is that, despite the runway, the shortlist that has emerged is narrow and polarising—Martin O’Neill and Robbie Keane.
O’Neill, 74, is the more familiar face. He worked wonders last season. delivering a league and Scottish Cup double with one of the worst Celtic teams in the club’s history. The turnaround is the reason many supporters still see him as a rock-solid bet to win the league again next season. But the case for him comes with limits. O’Neill is not, in this telling, a modern architect for long-term change. He’s described as primarily a man-manager and a motivator.
Keane, 45, is the sharper contrast. A younger, more modern coach, he is framed as someone whose style is progressive and who carries a clear track record of success—having won league titles in Israel and Hungary with Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ferencvaros.
The debate is already shifting from trophies to direction. O’Neill and Keane don’t just represent two candidates; they represent two timelines and two different ideas of what Celtic need next.
One suggestion circulating is that O’Neill could take charge for another 12 months on a one-year deal. with Keane coming in as his assistant. The transition would then see O’Neill depart and Keane move up to become the club’s new manager on a long-term arrangement. But that hinges on a question that Celtic can’t afford to duck: why would Keane agree to a waiting game?. He is a manager in his own right, not an apprentice.
The underlying worry is that Celtic’s planning—after months of supposed preparation—does not yet feel like a club that has fully decided what it wants to build.
There’s also the risk of getting stuck in sentiment. O’Neill’s place in Celtic folklore is undeniable. and he does galvanise the club in a way that few others can. But the argument against keeping him is blunt: for all the success last season. O’Neill is not the answer long-term. He even freely admitted this himself only a couple of weeks ago.
The focus then turns to modernising Celtic beyond the pitch. The recruitment structure is described as a shambles for years, and the point is that league-winning momentum won’t fix the systems that have repeatedly failed to keep Celtic moving forward.
Keane is presented as the more logical fit for that job. The case is that he’s young, hungry, and has a clear style of play, backed by success across Europe with Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ferencvaros.
Ferencvaros were a good watch in the Europa League last season. They beat Danny Rohl’s Rangers in the group stage. went on to reach the last 16. and then eventually lost to Braga. Keane’s European impact with comparatively modest resources is held up as another reason he belongs on Celtic’s shortlist.
There is, however, a political obstacle Keane might face. A section of the Celtic support reportedly take a dim view of the fact he worked in Israel. Still. the choice ultimately lands at the top: Dermot Desmond needs to make a decision—stick with O’Neill for safety. or look longer-term with a younger manager.
The comparisons that matter in Celtic’s recent history only sharpen the stakes. The discussion asks whether Keane’s credentials are strong enough to avoid a repeat of the short-lived experiment with Wilfried Nancy. The comparison is not flattering for Nancy. who arrived at Celtic Park with absolutely no knowledge of Celtic or Scottish football. What he thought he knew about Scottish football came from the fact he almost signed for Carlisle. He was also described as a very poor communicator with broken English. and he was strictly wedded to radical changes to the playing style mid-season. The players switched off pretty quickly.
Keane would be different in this view because he would arrive with a full pre-season to implement his ideas. He is also described as a top-class player in his day who knows Celtic as a club, which would help him command respect in the dressing room.
By the time Desmond sits down with both men this week, the club’s window for getting the squad ready won’t be large. There is a huge amount of work to do to get the squad into shape for the start of next season.
For Celtic, the question is no longer just who can deliver immediate results. It’s whether the club can make the kind of appointment that matches the speed of the task ahead—fast enough to modernise, focused enough to move forward, and decisive enough to avoid another round of uncertainty.
Celtic Martin O'Neill Robbie Keane Dermot Desmond Maccabi Tel Aviv Ferencvaros Wilfried Nancy Rangers Braga Scottish Cup Europa League