Martin O’Neill has been re-appointed Celtic manager until the end of the season following the sacking of Wilfried Nancy after eight games and just a few weeks into a two-and-a-half-year contract.
The Irishman will take up a second spell as interim boss of the Scottish champions, having stepped in following Brendan Rodgers’ exit, winning seven out of eight matches. He returns with the same backroom team of Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham.
O’Neill said: “I am really pleased, in fact, very honoured to be asked back to manage the team again and I am looking forward to getting back to work again with the players.
“I know we would all have hoped for things to have worked out differently under Wilfried and I personally want to wish him good luck with everything he does in the game. He is a fine man and I am sure he will go on and achieve success again, I have no doubt of that.
“For me, I’ve been asked to take this great job on again and my focus will be to try and get us back to winning ways if we can. We will need everyone right behind us.”
Celtic’s principal shareholder, Dermot Desmond added: “I am pleased to welcome Martin back to Celtic. We know exactly what he will bring and we hope that he can do what he has done for us before, giving us that drive and direction as we move into the next part of the season.
“We all know about his proven track record with the club and hope he can bring us similar success going forward.
“When we appointed Wilfried to the role of manager, clearly we thought we could enjoy a successful period under his control. Unfortunately this did not work out in the way we would have liked, and while he and the club are disappointed with the recent period, I want to take this opportunity to wish him well in all he does going forward.”
Nancy joined from Major League Soccer club Columbus Crew on 4 December, but paid the price for winning just two games.
Defeats in the Scottish League Cup final to St Mirren and to Glasgow rivals Rangers at the weekend came in a sequence of four consecutive defeats for the first time since 1978. He was the first Celtic manager to lose his first two games in charge.
Former Exeter City and Stevenage manager Paul Tisdale has also been removed as head of football operations after just over a year in post.
A brief club statement confirmed that Nancy’s coaches Kwame Ampadu, Jules Gueguen and Maxime Chalier, have also departed
Manchester United sack manager
Ruben Amorim has been fired as head coach of Manchester United. He was appointed in November 2024 and led the team to a UEFA Europa League Final in Bilbao in May.
The club, sixth in the Premier League, said it had “reluctantly made the decision that it is the right time to make a change. This will give the team the best opportunity of the highest possible Premier League finish.”
Amorim, who was named as “head coach”, said there had been disagreements with the club over transfer targets and insisted he be “manager”. There were tensions with director of football Jason Wilcox and calls for Amorim to change his playing system.
Former captain and ex-Scotland midfielder Darren Fletcher will take charge of the team against Burnley on Wednesday amid speculation linking former England boss Gareth Southgate to the job.
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