Martin O’Neill's Return: Celtic's Plans and Shaun Maloney's Role

Shaun Maloney says there is no rush. No deadline. No red circle on the calendar for Martin O’Neill’s return to the Celtic dugout.

The 74-year-old manager, fresh from a “small procedure” in hospital, will decide for himself whether he travels to Rugby Park for Sunday’s meeting with Kilmarnock. Until then, Celtic wait on the word of the man who transformed their season last term and opened this one with three points.

O’Neill was discharged on Thursday after his brief hospital stay, and Maloney, his assistant, visited him that evening.

“I went to see him last night,” Maloney said. “It was really positive. He was in good form – loads better than he was Monday, Tuesday. Hopefully that sort of positive feeling he has continues.”

The image is reassuring: O’Neill back home, improving, still plugged into the work. He was in the dugout on Monday as Celtic edged Dundee 1-0 to launch their Scottish Premiership defence, but the days since have been different. Recovery comes first, even for a manager who has never been wired for half-measures.

For now, the plan is written in pencil.

“Even for the game at the weekend, it’s sort of day-to-day,” Maloney explained. “We saw him last night with regards to the preparation for the game and then he wasn’t in today.

“I’ll speak to him this afternoon and then he’ll make a call for tomorrow. And then I’d imagine he’ll make the call for the game at the weekend.

“But, if it’s this weekend, great. If it isn’t, then we’ll prepare for it with that one.”

A familiar face, a different role?

If O’Neill stays away, Maloney steps forward. The former Hibernian and Wigan manager is no stranger to the technical area, but doing it as the main voice for Celtic at Rugby Park would still feel unusual.

“Strange,” as he put it himself.

“We’ll definitely miss him if he’s not there but you also have to respect what’s happened the last few days,” Maloney said.

“The impact that he’s had over, what was it, since October, it’s been nothing short of incredible really – the things that he does with the players and the staff.

“So we will miss him, but we’ll be prepared. We’ve got some brilliant senior players, but we’ll see. We’ll let him make the call.”

That impact is the backdrop to everything. O’Neill walked back into Celtic last season, twice as caretaker, and walked out of it in May with a league and cup Double and a one-year contract in his pocket. The club handed him the reins properly at the start of this campaign because he had already changed the temperature of the place.

Now, even in his brief absence, his influence hangs over every decision. Training sessions, tactical tweaks, even transfer business.

Transfers on hold, focus on Rugby Park

On that front, Maloney’s message was clear: don’t expect any late drama before Kilmarnock.

He does not anticipate new faces arriving in time for Sunday, despite reports of a bid for Oviedo winger Haissem Hassan. Recruitment, he stressed, remains a conversation between O’Neill and chief executive Michael Nicholson, not one for the assistant to drive while the manager recuperates.

Maloney acknowledged there is interest around midfielder Arne Engels and right-back Alistair Johnston, but he has no indication that either will be missing when the squad boards the bus for Rugby Park.

The noise outside continues – transfer rumours, speculation about timelines, questions over how often a 74-year-old can be expected to go to the well. Inside Lennoxtown, the message is simpler: prepare for Kilmarnock, listen for O’Neill’s decision, and be ready to adapt.

If the manager appears in the dugout on Sunday, it will lift Celtic and send a jolt through the away end. If he doesn’t, his team will still carry his fingerprints into one of the league’s more awkward away days.

Either way, the next call belongs to Martin O’Neill.