Celtic confident O'Neill will stay

Martin O'Neill will not leave Celtic to join Manchester United when Alex Ferguson retires from being manager at Old Trafford next year. That is the belief in the boardroom at Parkhead and it is so strong Celtic do not feel the need to try to preempt any possible O'Neill departure by giving him the sort of "golden handcuffs" contract which, for example, David O'Leary has at Leeds United.

Speaking exclusively to The Irish Times, the largest individual shareholder at Celtic and the club's most influential director, Dermot Desmond, said that Celtic would not be renegotiating O'Neill's contract in recognition of the transformation the club has undergone since O'Neill's appointment last July. Desmond took the precaution of asking O'Neill about the United job and received sufficient reassurance from the Ulsterman.

The Celtic board's belief that personal finance is not an O'Neill priority was reflected in a striking phrase from Desmond that O'Neill has "taken ownership of the club mentally". Celtic already belongs to O'Neill emotionally and intellectually - and vice versa. That at least is the hope and the faith.

Celtic need three points from their home game against St Mirren this afternoon to win the Scottish Premier League one year after they finished 21 points behind Rangers. Celtic have already won the League Cup, are in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup and would complete a first Treble since 1969 if they were to win all three.

Desmond's stance is not a sign of ingratitude, however, far from it. Desmond could not have been more impressed with the "enthusiasm and intelligence" of the man who succeeded John Barnes and Kenny Dalglish. "Martin has a special bond with the club," said Desmond, "and you hope that that is developing.

"But you can't lock in any manager. The important thing is that Martin has the passion to lead and manage Celtic. That is reflected on the pitch. Martin has a strong rapport with the team and if you go into the dressing-room you can feel that. Martin has that leadership. And Celtic haven't had that.

"I'm not going to start thinking about any problem until one arises."

It is likely, despite Desmond's words, O'Neill's name will continue to be linked with the forthcoming vacancy at Old Trafford. Aware of that agenda Desmond broached the subject with O'Neill when discussing the post at Parkhead.

"When I was talking to Martin about coming to Celtic I asked the question about what if Manchester United offered him the job," said Desmond. "I think his answer was something like: `how could you improve on the situation after Alex Ferguson?' So he had thought about it, not in an arrogant way, but you can't improve on Alex's record. It's probably like taking over from Jock Stein or Bill Nicholson."

O'Neill signed a three-year contract when he joined Celtic, but the Celtic board are clearly hopeful the O'Neill era at Parkhead will last a lot longer, new contract or not.