Martin O’Neill will discuss his future with Celtic owner Dermot Desmond this week and hasn’t ruled out remaining at the club after steering the Bhoys to an unexpected double, sealed with Saturday’s 3-1 Scottish Cup final win over Neil Lennon’s Dunfermline at Hampden Park.
The 42 website is one of many outlets reporting on O’Neill’s post match remarks when he told a press conference that he won’t rule out continuing in the role after saving Celtic’s season following the departures of Brendan Rodgers and William Nancy.
The website reports that when asked about his future, the former Republic of Ireland boss said: “If you were asking me, will you start back in a week’s time? I genuinely couldn’t do that.
“I’ll have to have a think. I think in the next week, I’ll meet up with the owner (Dermot Desmond), see what he’s saying. He hasn’t said anything to me, so I don’t know whether that’s good news or bad news.
“I will genuinely have a wee look at it to see. But I would be thinking that the football club, to go forward, to go forward properly, would probably be looking at somebody younger. I would have thought that in the last few weeks they would be looking at options.”
Spurs had only confirmed their Premier League survival when new boss Roberto De Zerbi was already looking to start plans for next season, knowing that another 17th place finish isn’t good enough after the 1-0 win over Everton that kept them up.
Speaking to the media after a Joao Palhinha goal ensured the great escape on the final day of the season, De Zerbi outlined his plans.
The BBC reports that he said: “It’s now around 7pm, and around 8pm or 9pm we will start working towards next season.
“Next season we have to build a top, top, top team. We don’t have to change too many players in our squad, but we have to bring in some first level players.”
Ireland boss Carla Ward has slammed Arsenal’s decision to release Katie McCabe, now linked with a summer move to WSL rivals Chelsea or Manchester City.
Ward told the Irish Mirror’s Mark McCadden that it is ‘bonkers’ that McCabe is no longer a Gunner and that Katie would feature in the Ballon D’Or reckoning if she was English.
“I hope we don’t speak out of turn by saying this, but if Katie was English, I think everybody would be saying right now she should be in Ballon d’Or conversations,” said Ward who has included Katie in her squad for upcoming World Cup qualifiers against the Netherlands and France.
Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley has again confirmed that goalkeeper Ed McGinty and winger Adam Brennan will be released from club duty to report in with Ireland on Monday morning for the upcoming friendlies - even though derby opponents Bohs have kept Dawson Devoy back for Monday’s Dalymount Park clash.
Speaking to the Irish Sun after Friday’s home defeat to Sligo, Bradley said: “Adam will meet up, and Ed’s the same, no change. I’ve been talking for a long time that players in the league deserve to be called up, who have the ability to be called up. What they’ve done is irrelevant really.”
Robbie Keane is being linked with Celtic again after the record Ireland scorer confirmed his departure as manager of Hungarian side Ferencvaros where he won the league title last season and the Cup this campaign.
“After an incredibly enjoyable and successful 16 months at Ferencvaros, I have made the difficult decision to bring my time at the football club to an end,” said Keane, as quoted by RTE Sport.
