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Per the words of caretaker manager Martin O'Neill, Wilfried Nancy will be leading Celtic during Sunday's Scottish Premiership clash versus Heart of Midlothian.

Columbus Crew's head coach has been involved in detailed discussions with Parkhead side for nearly a week and now appears ready to complete an agreement.

O'Neill has been acting as interim boss for over a month ever since Brendan Rodgers departed, achieving six victories in seven games, cutting into Hearts' lead of the Scottish Premiership and guiding the team to a League Cup final spot.

The veteran manager, who previously managed the club between 2000 and 2005, had already indicated he believed the match at Hibernian – which ended in a 2-1 win – would be his final act of his return at the helm.

But, O'Neill stated he is to lead Celtic for Wednesday's league encounter with Dens Park before Nancy assumes control.

"He's the man who will be coming in," stated O'Neill to TalkSport. "I thought my time was up on Sunday, however there's some formalities still to be dealt with. The Dundee game will assuredly be the end for me."

A Surreal Spell

"This has been unreal," O'Neill continued. "It feels like a part of your life that makes you wonder 'did all of that really happen?' Am I pleased that I took the role? Without a doubt."

If Celtic defeat Dundee and Hearts defeat Killie on Wednesday, the incoming boss could guide Celtic to the top of the Premiership with a victory during his debut game as manager.

"It's a decent start for Nancy versus Hearts," O'Neill said. "A nice introduction. It will be a challenging fixture of course but good luck to him. At the very least he inherits a team with a bit of self-belief."

This self-belief stems from the positive run on the field in the last month or so, a period where he lost only once – a three-one defeat at the Danish side in the Europa League.

Nevertheless, the ex- Irish manager and his players subsequently managed to secure their first away win in Europe since 2021 with a win over the Dutch club 3-1 recently.

Rebuilding Belief

"We lost by them," O'Neill recalled. "That proved to be a hard fixture – a couple of weeks before they mauled Nottingham Forest, so that was a challenge. To go to De Kuip and win on their patch was terrific. We have given ourselves a chance, with three games remaining to try to qualify, but that victory in Rotterdam helped restore confidence."

Future Ambitions

When asked for his reflections on his time as interim boss, O'Neill stated it has led to consideration about whether he would like to carry on in management in the future.

"I honestly don't know," he admitted. "I will have a little think about things after the match on Wednesday."

"It was challenging," he continued. "I felt the fear of failing – which is always a big concern. I once joked that I was capable of doing this job equally as badly as a lot of other managers."

"I have learned much. I've got some great young coaches alongside me and it has served as a refresh personally in many ways, working with young players every day."

A Potential Advisory Position?

Regarding if he might remain at Celtic in a consultancy role, the ex- Leicester City, Villa and Republic of Ireland manager says that is entirely up to Wilfried Nancy.

"That is really for the incoming manager to decide," O'Neill stated. "He should be allowed his own space. If he wants my opinion on matters, that is acceptable. If not, that is perfectly fine at all. It becomes his team the moment he enters the breach."

Presenter the interviewer concluded by asking by asking O'Neill if he would be emotional or sentimental when the final whistle blew in the Dundee game.

"Are you asking if I will get tearful?" O'Neill replied. "Don't be ridiculous."