O’Neill returns to Celtic for rest of season

Martin O’Neill returns to Celtic as manager for the remainder of the season following the sacking of Wilfried Nancy.

The 73-year-old made eight appearances following the departure of Brendan Rodgers in October, winning seven of them.

He was replaced by Nancy in early December, but the Frenchman left the team on Monday after a dismal run with just two wins in eight matches.

“I’m actually really pleased to have been asked to manage the team again and I’m looking forward to starting working with the players again,” O’Neill told club media.

“I know we would all have expected things to go differently under Wilfried and I personally want to wish him good luck in everything he does in the game. He’s a good guy and I’m sure he’ll move on and achieve success again, I have no doubt about that.”

“For me, I’ve been asked to take on this great job again and my focus will be on getting us back to winning ways if we can. We’re going to need everyone behind us.”

O’Neill, who won seven trophies with Celtic between 2000-05, will again be assisted by Shaun Maloney, Mark Fotheringham and Stephen McManus.

Celtic, champions in 13 of the last 14 seasons, are currently second in the Scottish Premier League, six points behind Hearts and ahead of Rangers in goals scored.

Under Nancy, they lost to St Mirren in the League Cup final and O’Neill managed the semi-final win against Rangers.

“We still have a lot to look forward to, try and achieve and myself, Shaun, the coaching staff and of course the players will give everything to achieve all the success we can for the club,” added O’Neill.