Martin O'Neill says he would “lovely stay” as Celtic manager after his interim spell ended with seven wins from eight games.
The Northern Irishman replaces his compatriot Brendan Rodgers, who resigned at the end of October. Wilfrid Nance subsequently took over the position permanently and lost all three of his first games.
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O'Neill described his five-week stint at the club, which he managed from 2000 to 2005, as “holding down the fort for a while.”
However, he said retaining responsibility for Sunday's Premier Sports Cup final, which Celtic lost to St Mirren, was not a motivating factor.
“Only if they ask,” he replied on Talksport when asked if he wanted to take Celtic out of Hampden.
“That was not the driving force. I'd love to stay.
“If they had asked me to stay, I would have done so, but the minute they said, 'No, this is your time,' I was fine with that.”
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O'Neill, 73, said he had only had a “10-15 minute conversation” with the “friendly” Nancy since the change took place earlier this month.
Before Sunday's defeat, the Frenchman suffered a home defeat to Scottish Premier League leaders Hearts and Europa League rivals Roma.
“I got to work, [major shareholder] Dermot [Desmond] told me, he said, 'You can work there for two weeks or two months, we're looking for someone,'” O'Neal explained.
“When you get into it, you really enjoy it. You like to win, that's the whole point.
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“We need to give coaches chances. I think back to my time at Leicester City where I ended up having good success. I can't win a game to save my life, the crowd is out for blood even after 10 games. How lucky I was to win a couple of really important matches on stage.”
“You just have to win, you have to win. You must stabilize the situation again. The football club has some great players.
“Of course, this can be fixed. You're at a football club for 10 or 12 days.
“You can’t judge someone based on three games. The matches were difficult. We need to give the coach some time.”
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'Divided Celtic need harmony again'
Former Aston Villa boss O'Neill, who has five Scottish Premiership titles to his name, a semi-final defeat to Rangers and a memorable Europa League win over Feyenoord, felt “rejuvenated” after a “turbulent time” in Glasgow.
“I was very, very concerned about it,” he said.
“If you fail, you will be seen as too old for the job and that it is a young man's game.
“Luckily, I don't think I messed it up.”
O'Neill feels Celtic “need harmony again” amid unrest between fans and the board.
“The disunity of Celtic is not the Celtic people should know about,” he said.
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And when asked whether his brief return to management had whetted his appetite for other work, his answer was clear: “I would say absolutely.
“I never lost my appetite for the game, I definitely didn’t lose my enthusiasm and I have energy to burn.”
