Martin O'Neill was not in the mood for jokes or trademark wisecracks as he fronted up at Lennoxtown to face the fallout from Celtic's Champions League exit to LASK. The Hoops boss was not quite the shell-shocked figure he cut in Austria the other night, but he knew it was serious business as he raked over the coals after the kind of seismic event that triggers an annual existential crisis at Celtic.
He witnessed the dark cloud hanging over Parkhead for most of last term following the failure against Kairat Almaty, and he is under another one following an even bigger calamity 12 months on. The chants and banners, the protests, the match disruptions and the boycotts – O'Neill helped banish the blues eventually and set up that dramatic climax to the campaign. Yet the fan anger could be back with a bang in the wake of the abysmal LASK collapse.
O'Neill accepts criticism over signings
O'Neill just hopes it won't be like last time, even if the problems continue to haunt the Hoops. The Northern Irishman still takes most of the responsibility but concedes punters might have a point with complaints about failing to provide signings quickly enough to contend with a £40million shootout. At least he would if he had the energy to dig into the deeper-rooted issues surrounding Celtic and their now customary failure to negotiate Champions League play-offs.
In the meantime he is just hoping a spark on the home front and a decent crack at the Europa League might allow the supporter rage to abate. O'Neill said: “I don’t know. Are you going to stem the flow of negativity? I just think this is it. I think that people, first of all, you have to be disappointed and if you’re angry at that. I accept those things, absolutely accept them.
“Somewhere along the way we as a football club, have to get back up again as quickly as possible. Try and ride the disappointment out. And if I turn around and say this here, learn from it. Learn from it. If there are lessons to be learned, if there is a common denominator about not making it into the Champions League for each time you’ve had to play a qualifying game, let’s genuinely analyse that.”
No position to argue over transfer timing
O'Neill spoke again about his need for reinforcements and, when he finished his list, was asked why this wasn't done BEFORE the LASK game. He said: “Do you know what, I’m in no position to argue, really, not today. But, look, we genuinely need to learn. That’s the most important thing, attempting to learn. I know that sounds like a politician’s answer after the whole thing and saying what we should have done.
“But in my moment in the ashes, and I do feel like that at the moment, I think the club will rise, and I’m hoping in the not-to-distant future. I might not be there but I do think the club will not just qualify, but make it through and really do fine in the competition and attempt to get to the latter stages.”
That seems a long way off right now, especially with Scotland's champions facing THREE qualifiers to get to the league phase next term. And fans are in no mood to forgive, forget and move on just yet. Neither is the manager, mind you.
Social media abuse and the road ahead
O'Neill suffered a play-off defeat to Basel back in 2002 but bounced back to reach the UEFA Cup Final. Few would bet on a repeat. But getting fans back onside is the first task, and the difference to 25 years ago is supporters have outlets beyond the stands to vent their fury. Celtic have been in the firing line – and midfielder Luke McCowan has copped it more than most after struggling off the bench the other night.
O'Neill said: “There was no such thing as social media in those days, like Luke taking lots of abuse. I just think life in general has changed. If it hadn’t been Luke, it would have been somebody else on the team. People have been, throughout time, subjected to lots of abuse now. And it just seems to be the way. That’s my experience. Generally speaking, I’m not in the mood for putting arms around players at this minute. But I will.”
O'Neill is trying to drag himself off the floor but he will get to the players, with Falkirk up today and the chance to move eight points ahead of Rangers, who have plenty of problems of their own. He said: “We have to go over and really show, and I know it’s an overused word, a lot of character. There’ll be moments in the next game, misplaced passes, you know, allowing Falkirk in, shots at goal and stuff like this here – maybe even going a goal behind in the game – where the crowd would want to get restless. Absolutely, so we have to fight that.
“But that’s always been the case. Even under my days of, you know, with [Henrik] Larsson and [Neil] Lennon, people like [Paul] Lambert, it was the case there, so that doesn’t change. And do you know what? I wouldn’t expect it to, we can’t live on laurels for the rest of our time. Last season was just fantastic, great moments, but it’s gone. I’ve had some really great moments in my time and I’ve had some real lows. It’s funny that one of the great highs was winning the league, one of the major lows was losing this game. It doesn’t get any easier at 74 years of age, in fact, it gets worse.”
