Celtic chief executive Michael Nicholson has said the club will “come together and support” manager Martin O’Neill after what he described as a “painful” week.
O’Neill’s position has come under scrutiny after three consecutive defeats: two against Rangers, either side of a home loss to Ferencvaros in the Europa League. Following Sunday’s 1-0 derby defeat at Celtic Park, the 74-year-old said “it might be time to wrap it up”, and had indicated he would use the international break to consider his future.
Nicholson’s public backing rests on O’Neill’s record at the club, where he has delivered nine trophies across two spells in charge. The chief executive suggested Celtic would rally round both the manager and the squad.
The manager’s comments came as the club’s latest financial figures showed a drop of nearly £33m in revenue, with a loss of £4.8m largely attributable to the failure to reach last year’s Champions League. Celtic have missed out on the competition again, having squandered a 4-0 aggregate lead in their play-off against LASK last month.
“Having started well in the Premiership this season, we experienced disappointment in the Champions League play-off,” Nicholson wrote. “Reaching the league phase of the Champions League is an objective for us all, and we are sorry not to have achieved it.
“On top of that, the losses in the last week have been painful for us all. We will now come together and support Martin and the players, as we focus our efforts on achieving success domestically and in the Europa League.”
Despite the run of defeats, Celtic remain top of the Scottish Premiership.