Martin O'Neill has revealed Celtic will hold a full annual general meeting, and he will face shareholders alongside the board. The Hoops fans have not yet been told the date of the AGM, usually held in late November, amid concerns the club would hold the meeting online. O'Neill has been told it will be business as usual, and he is hoping there will be no repeat of the chaos of the abandoned event 12 months ago.
O'Neill expects to attend AGM
Speaking after a supporters club event in Greenock on Monday, O'Neill said: "That's early December, isn't it? Or something like that, so it's not that long away. I would expect to be at it as a manager. If given an opportunity to answer some of the things and if they want to hear from the manager, I would have no problem."
He added: "I hope it's similar to what Monday night was in terms of the questions and fairness and not falling into what it was last year. It fell into chaos last year, and I should assume that the questions that were asked the other night would be similar to what would be asked again."
Robust but orderly meeting
O'Neill was part of the Parkhead party that addressed fans on Monday, where he dropped hints about his own future beyond next summer while club chiefs promised backing in January. There was a protest by balaclava-clad fans on the way in, but he described the meeting itself as "robust, yes, firm, but very orderly questioning."
He said: "I probably didn't really need to go to a meeting, but these people are big Celtic fans. Naturally, I think both board and supporters, I thought there was a wanting the best for the football club."
Future beyond this season
O'Neill admitted it is unlikely he will be in charge next term despite having a one-year option, but he insisted he would not leave the club in the lurch. He said: "I can't imagine anybody asking me back. Seriously, I can't imagine that happening. Listen, I didn't come in here today to give a final word at this minute."
He reflected on the international break after losing to Rangers: "Had there not been the international break after we lost to Rangers, then I would have probably said 'that's gone, let's just continue.' But it gave me some time to think. I think that was natural. I came back after a few days away thinking I was right to go again."
He added: "I also didn't want to leave it in that manner, if you even had a thought in your head about doing that. I don't think that would have been right. That would have been dropping people in the cart – and dropping the club in the cart."
Drive to turn form around
O'Neill insisted he still has the drive to drag Celtic back to form with six defeats in 10 games ahead of the Europa League clash with Besiktas. He said: "I have never been immune to that. That is not a problem to me. Everyone would love to be praised every single minute of your life. But that's not going to happen."
He added: "You've got to forget about the noise and try and get on with it and get back to winning ways. But everyone is a tactician now, everybody is a football manager. There are people who have got jobs in football now because they played PlayStation Manager. It's extraordinary. But it does not bother me, honestly."
He also said: "People talk about tactics but in my semi-defence, no-one talked about tactics when we won the seven games to win the league. Or the 14 games we won before we got beat."
