Is 'time a healer' for O'Neill over Celtic future?

Will Martin O'Neill still be in charge when Celtic resume Premiership action away to Motherwell on 11 October? With O'Neill having said he would consider his future when Celtic headed into the international break on the back of three successive defeats - two of them to Rangers - there has been precious little from the club since. Chief executive Michael Nicholson's message of support nine days ago, which was tucked away in the club's annual accounts statement, hinted at O'Neill staying put. Former Premiership goalkeeper Cammy Bell expects O'Neill to remain as manager - but says an instant upturn in results is a must. "I'm a little bit surprised there's not been much coming out of Celtic because when you listen to Martin O'Neill's comments after that defeat at Celtic Park against Rangers, you almost assumed that within a couple of days he was probably going to move on," Bell told the BBC's Scottish football podcast. "It was such a a damaging week for him, he had felt the the pressure and might have felt he had taken Celtic as far as he could, but nothing's happened. "So you fully expect O'Neill to now be in the dugout. He has maybe gone away, had a think about it, reset himself and still firmly believes he can take Celtic on to go and win trophies this season. "They've got a tough, tough schedule ahead, they're playing Motherwell at home a week on Sunday, then they've got Benfica away and then Hearts, so it's a huge run for Celtic when they come back to domestic football." Martin Atkinson, sports editor of The Scotsman, echoed Bell's sentiments. "Time is a healer," he said. "I certainly think that if he does come back - and that's looking likely at the moment - there's not a lot of wriggle room left for O'Neill and Celtic, they really do have to start picking up some results. "And if Celtic do get some momentum again, O'Neill will probably feel better about himself. We expect him to come back, but Celtic have over the past year have thrown us some real curveballs, so you never know what's coming in the next nine days or so."