O'Neill's indecision is final

By Chick Young BBC Scotland football correspondent

Inside the mind of Martin O'Neill there must be a bubbling volcano of activity.

The Celtic boss looked hungry for the winter shutdown as he left Pittodrie on Thursday having lost two vital championship points.

But unlike some, who will use the time out to work on their golf handicaps in southern climes, O'Neill will spend the weeks before the third round of the Tennents Scottish Cup thinking about his own future.

The truth is that he should have declared his intentions long before now because by the time we resume action the manager's contract will have just four working months to run.

Four pressurised months in which his team will compete for four trophies leaving little time to think about anything other than team selection and tactics.

At the moment his indecision is final.

Celtic dropped two vital points at Pittodrie

And as annoying and frustrating as that may be to the Parkhead board and the club's fans, it is, after all, O'Neill's life.

Will he stay or will he go? You pays your money and you makes your choice.

But if there is a bookie out there taking bets then I wouldn't mind a few bob on a house in the West End of Glasgow being put up for sale in the summer.

It is going to be a photo finish decision and if O'Neill hasn't come to a definite conclusion then it does, admittedly, seem a little crazy for the rest of us to speculate.

But I'll be stunned if yer man leads Celtic into the 2003 -2004 campaign.

And it has little to do with his wages.

My belief is that Martin O'Neill has realised that the Old Firm have reached a crossroads in the game and will now to be forced to take a turning that he doesn't really fancy.

Were the Big Two able to quit for the Premiership he would sign a new deal blindfolded because he knows exactly how big Celtic are, but more importantly how big they could be.

But the Irishman also knows that in the forseeable future there is no chance of that happening.

The days of Celtic and Rangers making genuinely big name signings like Larsson and De Boer are gone.

Mark my words, the current transfer records in this country will gather dust.

O'Neill: Will he stay or will he go?

In short the board at Parkhead cannot deliver the ammunition to reach the targets he has in his sights.

In international transfer terms Scottish football has gone into hibernation.

It is a rumour factory of course.

Depending in which pub you drink in you will have heard that Martin has already done deals with Liverpool or Leeds or is heading for the continent.

Or maybe even Manchester United.

I don't believe any of them for one second.

But there is little doubt that if he were to become a free agent or indeed there were to be an announcement of his intention to become one there would be much wooing of him from the Premiership.

And a further European scalp, that of Stuttgart in the Uefa Cup, would enhance his international reputation.

He'll be in charge of a big club next season all right...but I doubt it will be Celtic.