FRESH START: Martin O'Neill insists that Wilfried Nancy will NOT be affected by off-field strife that's tearing Celtic apart

Martin O’Neill insists Wilfried Nancy will be afforded a fresh start as Celtic manager and will not be affected by the toxic off-field atmosphere around the club.

Nancy is now in advanced talks with the Parkhead club and it is expected that the 48-year-old Frenchman could be formally unveiled early next week.

Celtic will be in Rotterdam on Thursday night for a Europa League clash with Feyenoord, before facing Hibs at Easter Road on Sunday.

Nancy is expected to be in Scotland by the weekend and could be in the stands to watch the game against Hibs.

O’Neill will take charge of those two matches, before stepping aside from his role as interim manager as passing the baton to the former Columbus Crew boss Nancy.

But it could be a tough gig for a relatively untested manager, with the majority of the Celtic supporters openly revolting against the board for much of the season.

The club’s AGM last week descended into chaos and had to be abandoned, but O’Neill believes the new man will be able to rise above the aggro and make the most of a fresh start.

‘I think that the new manager coming in, I think that he should divorce himself from all those proceedings,’ said the 73-year-old veteran, who took the reins after the departure of Brendan Rodgers.

‘This is a fresh start for him. He hasn’t been party to anything that’s happened in recent times.

‘So just let’s say it was me and I’d never manage the football club again, I’d be saying: “Yeah, that’s got nothing to do with me”.

‘I would be saying: “I have to try and win some football games”.

‘Then maybe, if we can get a real team together that can go and compete, not just domestically, but obviously in European football. Well, that would be his job.

‘He’s got a fresh start. He’s going into something that really has been none of his concern. And that’s the way I would be approaching it.

‘It’s not like passing the buck. It’s just saying, well, sorry, that’s not my making. My making now is to put Celtic back in the game.’

Asked whether the toxicity around the club could start having an impact on the team, O’Neill said: ‘I actually think you make a really decent point about that.

‘I’m hoping, and since I’m only here for the short period of time, it’s just about ignoring anything that’d be happening elsewhere.

‘Hopefully, if we score a goal, there’ll be a crowd cheering for that. That’s the case.

‘But in a longer-term basis, I think you might have a point. And the sooner that this unity comes back to Celtic, the better.

‘I don’t see that [players being affected] at this minute. But if this was a continuation for a long, long time or something like this, it might be a different issue.’

There has been some suggestion that O’Neill could be retained in some kind of role upstairs on the club’s board.

Whether that be as a director or in some kind of strategic role, it’s something that he does not completely rule out.

Asked if there was any chance of him staying on, he replied: ‘I genuinely don’t know.

‘Of course, if they asked me, would I be a director of football? I know from the past that’s the best role in football now because you can blame the manager for the bad results!

‘That’s what I’d like to do - to step in and become the director of football and then being the manager for every bad result.

‘And if a good player comes up, I take the credit for it, which is brilliant. No, in all seriousness, I genuinely don’t know.

‘I would imagine my time here would be, again, short or sweet. But I don’t know.

‘Listen, in a perverse sort of way, I actually have enjoyed it, I must admit. Could I really do the job again week in, week out, week in, week out, for months on end? I really don’t know.

‘Do I have energy and enthusiasm? Yeah, I have those. Is that enough? Not so sure, you know.

‘I’ve got all of those particular things. Do I have knowledge of the game? Of course, yeah, I think I have. But in the end, I really don’t know.’