Martin O’Neill expects Celtic to target a ‘young coach who has proven ability’ with Kieran McKenna emerging as an early contender to replace Brendan Rodgers as manager.
Rodgers handed in his resignation on Monday, 24 hours after the 3-1 defeat to Hearts which has left Celtic eight points off top spot in the Scottish Premiership.
Celtic’s majority shareholder, Dermot Desmond, launched a scathing attack on Rodgers following his exit, calling the 52-year-old ‘divisive, misleading and self-serving’.
O’Neill, who won seven trophies during his first five-year spell as Celtic manager, has been brought in on an interim basis while the Scottish club seek to appoint a permanent manager.
According to The Sun, Ipswich Town manager McKenna is ‘admired’ by Celtic’s hierarchy and will come under ‘serious consideration’.
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McKenna, who guided Ipswich to consecutive promotions from League One to the Premier League, has a contract with the Championship club until 2028.
During an interview with talkSPORT on Tuesday morning, O’Neill reiterated that he will only be in charge of Celtic for the short term and admitted the offer of returning was ‘difficult to turn down’.
‘I got a call late afternoon, early evening yesterday from Celtic from Dermot Desmond, and Dermot asked me would I step in because Brendan had resigned from the football club,’ O’Neill said.
‘It’s obviously the kind of shock news really as much as anything else. Shocked me as well too.
‘But just to step into the breach and just do it on a short-term basis until a permanent manager is appointed.’
Asked if he hesitated about returning to Celtic, O’Neill said: ‘A very good point. Like everything else, I took a gasp of breath and thought, is this real or surreal?
‘It’s difficult really to turn down somebody who gave you the job in the first place when he had really some great options a way back 25 years ago.
‘So from that viewpoint, maybe by the time that I pulled myself off the floor, I probably thought then maybe I should do it.
‘I think they were probably stunned by the news that Brendan left and as a consequence, they maybe might be obviously seeking a permanent manager.
‘So this is like a short-term, I’m not going to say a fix, but it’s certainly a short-term fit. Whether it’s a fix or not, it’s another thing.’
When asked to clarify his interim appointment, O’Neill replied: ‘Interim does mean that to me. Absolutely. It’s really as simple as that.
‘Celtic are looking for, I would have assumed, a young coach coming in now who has a proven ability and would be wanting to pull the club forward now from their position as it stands.
‘That’s how I would view it and I suppose if I was a Celtic fan, I would absolutely see it.’
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