Paul Lambert on Martin O'Neill's Future at Celtic

Paul Lambert says he would not be surprised if Martin O'Neill chose to walk away from Celtic – but insists he would be “shocked and disappointed” if the club decided to sack their manager.

O'Neill, 74, has been left reeling by a bruising run of results. Celtic have suffered back-to-back Old Firm defeats to Rangers, either side of a Europa League home loss to Ferencvaros. That slump followed a stunning Champions League collapse against LASK in August, when a 4-0 aggregate lead was thrown away.

The veteran manager has already signalled he will use the international break to assess his position and the direction of the team.

“I will reflect on the games,” said O'Neill, who was appointed permanent manager for a second time in the summer after two interim spells last season ended with a league and Scottish Cup double.

O'Neill, who lifted seven more trophies with Celtic between 2000 and 2005 while Lambert was a key figure in midfield, knows the scrutiny is intense.

“I'm not immune from criticism. Absolutely and utterly far from it,” he said. “I think there's every reason to ask 'can you turn this round? Can you change the whole thing?' I have to kind of look at the bigger picture at this minute.”

Lambert, now 57, believes that bigger picture still casts O'Neill as a giant of the club.

He calls him Celtic's best manager since the legendary Jock Stein. That is the scale of the regard in which he holds his former boss. Yet Lambert accepts that, at O'Neill's age and with his record, a voluntary exit would not be a shock.

“It wouldn't surprise me if he left. I don't think he needs it,” Lambert said.

What he cannot accept is the idea of Celtic pushing O'Neill out.

“I'd be shocked and disappointed if Celtic sacked him,” he stressed. “I think they give him the option, if that's what's on his mind, if he did want to walk away.

“He's got enough credit in the bank. It wasn't that long ago people were shouting for a statue for him, so I don't think you can go from one extreme to the other.

If he wants to go, then he goes himself.”