San Francisco Frontiers - O'Neill insists Celtic return after Rodgers exit only temporary

The 73-year-old O'Neill will take the helm alongside former player Shaun Maloney after Rodgers's dramatic exit late on Monday.

Former Celtic manager O'Neill, who won seven trophies in his previous five years in charge from 2000-2005, told TalkSPORT he had been "shocked" to receive the call.

"I took a gasp of breath and thought, is this real or surreal?" he said.

"So 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."

Rodgers won 11 trophies over two spells in charge but left Celtic eight points adrift of Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts following a 3-1 loss to the Edinburgh club on Sunday.

Majority shareholder Dermot Desmond accused Rodgers of "divisive, misleading and self-serving" behaviour.

O'Neill, who has not held a managerial job since a brief stint at Nottingham Forest in 2019, insisted he would not be Rodgers' long-term successor.

"Interim does mean that to me. Absolutely," he said.

"It's really as simple as that. Celtic are looking for -- I would have assumed -- a young coach who has a proven ability and would be wanting to pull the club forward now.

"That's how I would view it and I suppose if I was a Celtic fan, I would absolutely see it.

"I had a super time there. It was an absolute privilege to have managed them before. My time had gone. I mean, I can't emphasise this enough. This is short term until a permanent manager is appointed."

- 'I have to win matches' -

Celtic face arch-rivals Rangers at Hampden Park on Sunday in the Scottish League Cup semi-finals and then play Midtjylland in Denmark in the Europa League.

"I have to win football matches and that's no different and at Celtic, it's always been the case," said O'Neill.

"If we can win some football matches and give us a bit of buying time as it were, until a new man is appointed."

Rodgers became increasingly at odds with the Hoops' hierarchy over their summer transfer policy after they were dumped out of Champions League qualifying by Kazakhs Kairat Almaty.

After Celtic's first defeat at Dundee in 37 years this month, the Northern Irishman said the team had "lost a lot of firepower, a lot of goals".

"There's no way you'll go into a race and be given the keys to a Honda Civic and say, 'I want you to drive it like a Ferrari'. It's not going to happen."

Desmond, however, insisted Rodgers' criticism had come "entirely out of the blue".

"Despite ample opportunity he was unable to identify a single instance where the club had obstructed or failed to support him. The facts did not match his public narrative," he said.

Rodgers previously managed Swansea, Liverpool and Leicester, and arrived at Celtic for the second time in June 2023 to succeed Ange Postecoglou.

Australian Postecoglou is now being tipped for a return to Parkhead after being sacked by Premier League clubs Tottenham and Nottingham Forest.

U.Campbell--SFF