Red Devil
Jul 6 2002, 02:08 PM
Martin O'Neill has again reiterated his intention to stay with his beloved Celtic, while insisting he will only discuss a new contract 'when the time is right'.
The Irishman, linked with the managerial vacancy at Leeds United, finally ended speculation over his future by pledging to see out his current deal with the double champions on Friday.
"I have never really bothered with contracts, and as a player I signed five one-year deals while I was at Nottingham Forest. They are not the most important thing," he said..
"The most important thing is this: I am happy at Celtic, I always have been and without sounding patronising it's a great club to be at."
O'Neill, who has lifted four trophies in his two-year reign in 'Paradise' refuses to get involved in speculation linking him with jobs as far apart as Italy, Spain and Old Trafford.
"I have been in Scotland for two years now and I have attempted to say things as honestly as I can and it makes no difference whatsoever. People will print what they want," said the 50-year-old.
"The previous year there was no talk about my contract and, as I have said before, there was nothing sinister about that, but I suppose when something like this crops up then people immediately start to wonder about it.
"I will, at some stage or another, sit down with Dermot Desmond (Celtic's majority shareholder) and have a full discussion on it and I am happy to leave it like that.
"Nothing is forever. More so than ever, the days of someone staying at a football club for eight or 10 years are few and far between.
"There aren't many players now staying for ferocious lengths of periods and that's because the money's good in the game and people are always looking for new challenges.
"We have a really good bunch of players and we're going to try and add to that, whatever sort of budgets are allowed.
"Because everything in football is so short term , what is the point of planning for four years down the way when that doesn't happen?
"The idea is you get players galvanised for each season and we have plenty of big challenges coming up."
But O'Neill insists he had no doubts about staying at Parkhead for a further year, with the prospect of another Champions League and domestic campaign on the horizon.
"I was happy to honour my contract and that's what I'm going to do," O'Neill told celticfc.net.
"There's lots of things here for us to do. We're in the Champions League, and we're going to try our very, very best to make sure we get into the group stages, and of course we have a championship to try and retain.
"There's been mounting speculation and it's a wee bit like last season when we had to refute suggestions that Manchester United were knocking on the door.
"So much so that a very reputable newspaper had me down as having clandestine meetings with Manchester United and I had to take legal proceedings against all that," he added.
The Irishman, linked with the managerial vacancy at Leeds United, finally ended speculation over his future by pledging to see out his current deal with the double champions on Friday.
"I have never really bothered with contracts, and as a player I signed five one-year deals while I was at Nottingham Forest. They are not the most important thing," he said..
"The most important thing is this: I am happy at Celtic, I always have been and without sounding patronising it's a great club to be at."
O'Neill, who has lifted four trophies in his two-year reign in 'Paradise' refuses to get involved in speculation linking him with jobs as far apart as Italy, Spain and Old Trafford.
"I have been in Scotland for two years now and I have attempted to say things as honestly as I can and it makes no difference whatsoever. People will print what they want," said the 50-year-old.
"The previous year there was no talk about my contract and, as I have said before, there was nothing sinister about that, but I suppose when something like this crops up then people immediately start to wonder about it.
"I will, at some stage or another, sit down with Dermot Desmond (Celtic's majority shareholder) and have a full discussion on it and I am happy to leave it like that.
"Nothing is forever. More so than ever, the days of someone staying at a football club for eight or 10 years are few and far between.
"There aren't many players now staying for ferocious lengths of periods and that's because the money's good in the game and people are always looking for new challenges.
"We have a really good bunch of players and we're going to try and add to that, whatever sort of budgets are allowed.
"Because everything in football is so short term , what is the point of planning for four years down the way when that doesn't happen?
"The idea is you get players galvanised for each season and we have plenty of big challenges coming up."
But O'Neill insists he had no doubts about staying at Parkhead for a further year, with the prospect of another Champions League and domestic campaign on the horizon.
"I was happy to honour my contract and that's what I'm going to do," O'Neill told celticfc.net.
"There's lots of things here for us to do. We're in the Champions League, and we're going to try our very, very best to make sure we get into the group stages, and of course we have a championship to try and retain.
"There's been mounting speculation and it's a wee bit like last season when we had to refute suggestions that Manchester United were knocking on the door.
"So much so that a very reputable newspaper had me down as having clandestine meetings with Manchester United and I had to take legal proceedings against all that," he added.