Shaun Maloney may not want to be Martin O’Neill’s number two at Celtic, according to The Herald’s Stephen McGowan, who believes the assistant had been lined up for a different role.

Speaking on Graham Spiers’ Press Box podcast after Sunday’s defeat to Falkirk, McGowan suggested Maloney had been looking towards the head of football operations position before O’Neill returned.

“I think Shaun Maloney probably wanted to go and do the head of football operations role, and I think there was a plan for that, and then Martin was coming back when other things didn’t fall into place, and he wanted him to be the number two.

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“I don’t think he necessarily wants to be that number two, only he can answer that question honestly himself, but he is.”

The journalist, who quite commonly shares some insight from Lennoxtown, questioned if Martin O’Neill and his Celtic coaches were aligned in their ideas of football. 

McGowan picked his words carefully when he moved on to how the Celtic manager and Shaun Maloney worked together, stopping to correct himself before he described it.

“You do worry that there is a, excuse me, that might be the wrong word, but there’s a difference of philosophy or culture between the two of them, on how the team should be played and how the team should play and how things should be done, and it just doesn’t look terribly joined up at the moment.”

He would not pin it on one man. “Be that down to Martin O’Neill, be that down to his coaches, be that a combination of both, which is perfectly possible, it just is not working.”

The conversation began with Spiers, who opened the show by saying O’Neill is a friend of his. Spiers argued the tactical work at Celtic should fall to Shaun Maloney and fellow coach Mark Fotheringham, with O’Neill as the figurehead who has the final say on everything.

McGowan questioned why the pair had been trusted with that job in the first place. He said Maloney’s managerial record “didn’t necessarily justify this position of trust at Celtic”, citing his time at Hibs and Wigan.

After the Falkirk game, O’Neill pointed to the chances his side created, with Falkirk goalkeeper Scott Bain in fine form. McGowan said that explanation “didn’t really wash” with supporters, although Spiers felt the Celtic manager came across as calm and robust in his post-match comments.

The partnership in the dugout carries extra weight at Celtic right now. Earlier in the show, McGowan said he doesn’t think supporters trust O’Neill or his coaching team any longer, or the club to put things right. He noted that the club has no director of football and has not replaced its head of football operations, describing the manager as “just a lightning rod for wider frustration”. With those posts empty, O’Neill and his staff are more exposed than usual, and any gap between them is harder to hide.

O’Neill rescued a league and cup double last season. McGowan’s view is that supporters have stopped weighing that, and now judge him on what they see from the team week to week.

Celtic host Besiktas in the Europa League on Thursday night, a side Spiers rated as pretty strong, before Kilmarnock visit Celtic Park next Sunday. The league will then split up for the international break.