Newly appointed Celtic manager Martin O'Neill arrives ahead of an appearance at a fan event at Styx Kirkcaldy. Managers are always at their strongest when they first go in to a job. Martin O'Neill might not quite be going into Celtic for the first time given he was at the club last season. But him signing a permanent deal is a fresh start and given the way things unfolded, he must surely be in a position of strength. It's all about how he uses it now. I've not spoken to Martin but I have to assume he has been given certain assurances over what kind of backing he will get in the transfer window this summer.
There's no way that he would have decided to go again if he felt he was in for another campaign like last year, where he had to cobble together a team at times and somehow find a way to get over the line. It's to his immense credit he managed to do so but there's no way he can go through that stress again. I think back to 2000 when O'Neill first arrived at Celtic. The previous season was a disaster as the club had lost the league to Rangers by 20-odd points. There was a massive amount of work needed but he went out and signed the likes of myself, Joos Valgaeren – who was on the back of impressing at the Euros for Belgium – and others like Alan Thompson.
Martin O'Neill after signing Chris Sutton. It didn't take him long to assess the squad and figure out what he needed and he went out and did it. It's funny, I seem to recall back then he took a bit of stick for going to work for the BBC as a pundit at the Euros but he didn't hang around when he returned. You could argue he is already further down the road than he was in 2000 because he has worked with this squad and he knows exactly what he has at his disposal and – more importantly – exactly what he needs. And it's a lot. That's what I mean by a position of strength.
There has to be a realisation that Celtic as a club got away with one last season. They won the Double despite everything but it shouldn't delude anyone that everything is all of a sudden sorted. It could have turned out very differently and Celtic are still in a bit of a pickle. I believe they are going to have to spend more than they did in 2000. That shouldn't scare Celtic though. They have plenty of money in the bank that should be invested in the playing squad. I'd expect them to also bring in a lot of cash when it comes to sales.
Daizen Maeda is likely to go and Reo Hatate will probably leave too. There's already talk of interest in Arne Engels on the back of the Nottingham Forest bid in January. I think Engels would be a huge loss and it's back to a familiar issue. Celtic need to have a replacement lined up before they can allow him to go. If a bid arrives late in the window they have to be in a position to accept it this time. The key is to be ready and either have someone already in the building or options ready to go. They have to hope they don't lose others such as Alistair Johnston, who could attract interest on the back of the World Cup.
Even if those players all stay there's still a lot of work required to get this squad back to the level it was at a couple of years ago. That's the reality and I am convinced Martin must have told Dermot Desmond that he desperately needs quality. The Champions League qualifier is fast approaching and Celtic cannot go in unprepared again. We saw how going out to Kairat last time sparked the unrest among the supporters that overshadowed most of last season. The fans celebrated the league win and many of them will say it was the best ever because of the way it unfolded. But they also know the same underlying problems at the club are still there.
In fairness, Brian Wilson coming out to speak was welcome and long overdue. Celtic interim chairman Brian Wilson. I think he is trying to be a bit more proactive in speaking to supporters but he was thin on details and there has to be more done in terms of telling people the plan. There are huge decisions to be made behind the scenes and there remain massive concerns over the transfer dealings. Who is sourcing and signing the players? He needs players in the door but they cannot dither like they have done in recent windows.
There's also been a lot of discussion over O'Neill's backroom team, with Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham still to agree deals to stay. I don't think it's quite as straightforward as some think though. There are a few things to be taken into consideration from all parties. I'm sure Martin would like to keep his staff together but we don't know what's going on behind the scenes when it comes to contracts and so on. It might come down to him wanting to force that one over the line but you don't know people's personal circumstances.
Right now he is in a position where he can say, 'Give me what I want' and you have to think this time the Celtic board will listen. Martin will want to give himself the best opportunity for success and the lessons have to be learned from last summer. What happened with Brendan Rodgers is water under the bridge but you could see the growing discontent when it came to the time taken to make signings. That can't happen again but I'm sure O'Neill will have let them know in no uncertain terms.
