Celtic manager Martin O'Neill's future is a fierce talking point on the Hotline, with events on and off the park dominating chat. Sebastian Pocognoli gets his Scotland era underway on Saturday when his team takes on Slovenia in Ljubljana. However, for the majority of the Hotline correspondents in this session, club issues in Glasgow are still top of the agenda with the Parkhead club heading the charts.
O'Neill's future divides fans
Stephen Johnstone, Ardentinny, said: “Martin O’Neill must leave graciously and with his reputation intact. He has been a true statesman to all connected to the Celtic club/faithful and up there with the late Jock Stein. His health is more important, so the hierarchy must give Martin a proper send-off and let him leave as soon as a new manager is willing to take on this poisoned chalice under the present regime.”
But Charles Maxwell countered: “I sincerely hope Martin O’Neill stays on. He seems to have seen through Kasper Hogh. If someone new comes in, they might think they can make a player out of the Danish dud and that will only waste another eight weeks. When Yang gets back, he'll carry us to the transfer window when we can beef up the midfield and give Martin the resources he deserves.”
Rangers defeat sparks reaction
Celtic were soundly beaten again by Rangers last weekend to leave O’Neill reflecting on his position. Sean Dolan, Chicago, said: “It’s not often opposing fans agree on the Hotline, but yesterday’s comments by Willie Mercer were spot on. Rangers were not bang average. If Celtic had played that way, we’d have been lauding the brilliance. We were outdone by a good team performance that we had no response to.
“The problem we have now goes beyond the players. Yes they need to shoulder some of the responsibility. But now we have a clear coaching deficiency that couldn’t even spot the obvious issues from the previous game. And not to ignore the financial implications that will cast a shadow over future squad investment.”
Iain Morrison, Livingston, said: “In response to Mr Kerr who claims they were beaten by a bang-average-mob. I’ll take that any day of the week, over your hyped-up mob. He claims a half-decent Celtic would wipe the floor with Rangers. In truth, they couldn’t wipe the floor with a mop.”
Financial figures scrutinised
Celtic announced their latest financial figures this week. Jim Docherty said: “It was always going to be a loss on the balance sheet due to the disaster that was Wilfried Nancy's appointment and getting Martin O’Neill on board. The lack of Champions League money is true, but Mr Wilson still had to make out we paid £31.5 million for transfer deals in the close season, whereas there was no mention of incoming transfer cash of over £40 million for Arne Engels, Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and some others. They're trying to pull the wool yet again, but the fans are not going to accept this come AGM time.”
Peter Cooperewhite is still talking about decisions from the 1-0 Rangers win and said: “Here we go again. Celtic fans now turning the emphasis on Emmanuel Fernandez not getting sent off. If he did, we would still have won the game. A wee tweak from Derek McInnes would have solved that, but let us Rangers fans turn back to the previous game. Colby Donovon was booked early in the game but committed four fouls in a row after that with no second yellow or red card. Then Mika Baur thought he fancied a bit of Ryan Naderi’s ankle. For some reason, no foul, no yellow or red card. Get over it. We have.”
Gers fan Robert Livingstone, Palm Beach, said: “With Rangers on a good winning streak and the side playing great football, for me, this far too long international break has come at the wrong time for a side at top of their game. It's certainly more of a help to a desperate Celtic giving them time to regroup after two big defeats.”
