Celtic's Crisis: Simon Jordan Challenges Martin O’Neill to Show More Fight
Simon Jordan has challenged Martin O’Neill to show more fight after the Celtic manager openly questioned his own future in the wake of a grim week for the Scottish champions.
Celtic have been dragged into a crisis of confidence. Three defeats in seven days. Two of them to Rangers. All of them damaging.
It started with a 3-0 humbling at Ibrox in the Scottish League Cup quarter-final, Rangers sweeping past them and into the last four. Then came Europe, and more trouble. Hungarian side Ferencvaros arrived for the Europa League opener and left with a win, deepening the sense of unease around O’Neill’s side.
The week ended where it hurt most – at Celtic Park, in the Premiership, against the same old enemy. A 1-0 defeat to Rangers not only completed a bruising double at the hands of their rivals, it also snapped Celtic’s perfect start to the league campaign.
The numbers are beginning to bite. Celtic have now lost four games in all competitions this season, already matching the total number of defeats they suffered across 35 matches last term.
O’Neill, 74, returned to the club in January as caretaker and promptly delivered a league and Scottish Cup double, earning himself a one-year deal in June and a wave of goodwill. That goodwill is being tested.
After the latest loss to Rangers, the manager’s tone startled many. Rather than bristling with defiance, he spoke about stepping back and assessing whether he should carry on.
"I genuinely will reflect and see," he said. "It's a matter of whether I can help the team. If that's the case – the manager's supposed to be able to do that. I will have a look at that there this week."
Those words jarred with Simon Jordan. The former Crystal Palace chairman expected something very different from a figure as seasoned and combative as O’Neill.
"I've liked to see him being a bit spikier and a bit more robust, rather than sounding relatively defeated in that clip," Jordan told talkSPORT, making no attempt to hide his disappointment at the manager’s tone.
For Jordan, this was the moment for O’Neill to throw down a marker, not to look inward.
"I certainly would have been wanting to say back to them, 'This has happened, it will not happen again,’" he insisted.
Instead, O’Neill’s introspection has raised questions. Is this a brief, honest wobble after a brutal run of fixtures, or the first sign that he no longer feels able to drag this team back to the level they reached last season?
"The fact that he's talking about whether he can help the team and whether it's his time – I find that slightly strange of Martin, but he's having a reflective moment," Jordan added.
Reflective or not, the mood music around Celtic has shifted. The defeats to Rangers have stung, the early European setback has underlined their fragility, and now even the manager’s voice sounds less certain.
The response, from here, will define not just O’Neill’s season, but whether this short-term return to the dugout has one last surge in it – or simply fades out under the weight of doubt.
