Will he stay or will he go?

O'Neill has enjoyed huge success with Celtic

By Chick Young BBC Scotland football correspondent

Martin O'Neill's indecision is, it would seem, final.

The Parkhead boss is dodging questions about his future with a dexterity which would have done Jimmy Johnstone proud.

This is eating away at the patience of fans, the members of the media who think they are due a decision and several residents of his dressing room.

So should he stay or should he go? Well that will be down to O'Neill and his family.

It is his life and, while he has been richly rewarded by Celtic, there would be few that could legitimately argue that he hasn't earned his pay packet.

O'Neill: No hidden agenda

I believe he is embracing genuine thoughts about heading out of Glasgow.

The days are gone of managing either side of the Old Firm for decades. Never again will there be a Struth or a McGrory, a Wilson or a Stein.

You come, you conquer, you go away again. And you arrive with a sell-by date stamped on your forehead. The pressure is just too intense.

Martin O'Neill was blessed in his first season in charge. What he achieved with the rebirth of Celtic was the equivalent of u-turning the Ark Royal in Hogganfield Loch. Astonishing.

But now he may feel that there is something else out there, that at the age of 50 he has to make his move now...or never.

There must be doubts in his mind...otherwise he would have long ago signed the new deal which is currently gathering cobwebs in his desk. And it won't just be the money because Mr O'Neill is already a rich man.

There are two fiscal matters here, because not only must his own wallet be massaged, but he must have a guarantee that there are funds available when the transfer window opens in January.

Rangers are providing O'Neill with a stiff test

He knows the rebirth of the blues under Alex McLeish is no false pregnancy and his first team squad needs refreshing.

Players will leave Celtic in the summer. Hartson possibly, Petrov almost certainly.

New talent - and the money for it - will have to be found and at the moment the board can afford only the car boot sale end of the transfer market place.

O'Neill is a huge fan of Celtic. Even he was astonished by the size of the club when he joined it.

I can recall his wonderment of it all soon after he joined when we chatted over a cup of tea in a private room deep in the bowels of Parkhead.

But he is an intense thinker and 50 is a dangerous age. You tend to think about what you are going to do in the home straight of your professional life.

I hope, for the sake of Celtic, he doesn't leave and I am far from saying that he will. But there might now be more of a chance than some suspect.

Maybe he hasn't made up his own mind. Maybe Brian Quinn and Ian MacLeod are as much in the dark as the rest of us. Or maybe not.