Martin O’Neill urges Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy's detractors to give him time to prove himself

Martin O’Neill pleaded with Wilfried Nancy’s detractors to give him more time to prove himself as he refused to be drawn on whether he would step back into the breach if Celtic were to sack the recently-appointed Frenchman.

Nancy has had a disastrous start to his reign as Hoops boss, with pressure already mounting on the 48-year-old following defeats in each of his first three games in charge against Hearts, Roma and St Mirren.

Veteran O’Neill, who oversaw six wins in seven matches during a ship-steadying stint in interim charge after Brendan Rodgers resigned in October, said “I could have lost all of those games as well, too” as he jumped to the defence of the embattled former Columbus Crew boss.

“No, you cannot make a judgment on anybody over three games, and the matches were difficult,” O’Neill said during an appearance on talkSPORT on Monday.

“Roma was going to be a difficult game, whether you’re playing at home or not. Hearts was a top-of-the-table clash, and a cup final is a cup final. You have got to give a manager some time.”

O’Neill pointed to his own turbulent start to his ultimately successful stint as Leicester manager 30 years ago as an example of how Nancy’s predicament at Celtic could improve. Asked if the situation was recoverable, the 73-year-old said: “Absolutely. Of course it is. And I’m not just saying that.

“It is recoverable. Of course. You’re in the football club 10 or 12 days. And even though you probably have watched the team play, you still have to learn about the players. I had to learn about the players myself and I got great help from the coaching staff.”

O’Neill is a hero among the Celtic support after following up his successful five-year spell in the early 2000s with his short and fruitful recent stint at the helm.

Many are already speculating about the possibility of the veteran Northern Irishman being invited back for another spell of firefighting if Nancy is unable to turn the tide.

O’Neill was asked on more than one occasion if he would consider returning to Celtic Park but was clearly reluctant to discuss such a scenario out of respect for the current incumbent. The closest he got to answering was when he said: “That would be totally hypothetical.”

O’Neill did, however, admit that he has the appetite to return to management in some capacity, saying he had “energy to burn”.

“In terms of coaches, the scenario at Celtic was almost perfect,” he said, referring to the support he had from Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham.

“It has reinvigorated me, there’s no question about that. When you’re dealing with young people, it does make you feel much younger. I think I have as much energy as most managers at the minute.”