Celtic assistant manager Shaun Maloney has brushed aside claims that Martin O’Neill isn’t responsible for key coaching decisions at the club.

Maloney was on media duties on Wednesday in place of the Celtic manager as he dealt with a personal matter. However, he will be in the dugout tonight against Celta Vigo in matchday three of the Europa League.

In his absence, Maloney wanted to set the record straight.

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There have been theories surrounding the tactical decisions at the club. Some believed that O’Neill was simply there as the face while Maloney and the coaches ran the day-to-day decisions.

The Hoops number two isn’t having that at all. As quoted by the Daily Record, Maloney said:

“I think anyone that’s written or said that, I don’t think they’ve ever worked with Martin.

“If they came and watched us each day, Martin leads everything. Recruitment, team selection, tactical. He says he takes responsibility whether it’s win or lose.”

Maloney couldn’t be any clearer as to who leads Celtic’s on-field decisions. The former Hoops player even said it was the same when he played under O’Neill in the early 2000s.

“Even back 25 years ago, Martin very much would observe training”, he added.

“There were certain things he would step in and it’s exactly the same here.

“He observes the majority of training, but when there’s something that he wants to put across to the players, he steps in.

“It’s how he works is pretty much exactly how it was in the early 2000s.

“So, yeah, whoever says that, obviously, hasn’t worked with him or spoke to him.”

When Celtic went through that bruising period of losing three straight games, those theories seemed particularly topical. O’Neill himself said he’d have to consider his tenure just before the international break, then later admitted that he made his mind up to remain in charge pretty quickly. 

He and his coaching staff have a task on their hands tonight when Celta Vigo come to town. To have any realistic chance of qualifying out of the league phase, they need points on the board. Defeats to Ferencváros and Benfica have left them with an uphill battle, but they have the chance to shift the European tone at home to the La Liga side.

Maloney has quashed any theories about O’Neill’s role, but that won’t stop people from peddling speculation around who is making the big playing squad decisions.