Celtic manager Martin O’Neill spoke to the mainstream media today* ahead of Sunday’s Glasgow Derby at Celtic Park which is a must win match for the Scottish Champions as the Hoops look to retain their title to make it 5IAR…
Q: Martin, how much are you looking forward to your first derby game at Celtic Park for over 20 years?
Martin O’Neill: “20 years, yeah, a long time. I’m really looking forward to the game. Just an Old Firm (sic) Â match, plenty to play for. It always seems to be as well too, but particularly now coming towards the back end of the season.”
Q: After the result on Monday, does it feel like a straight shootout now between yourselves and Hearts for the title?
Martin O’Neill:Â “Well, you would have to say it’s actually out of Rangers’ hands. So from that viewpoint, that’s probably the only thing that has changed. That’s not to say that you would rule them out. They beat us, get a result the night before, things like that can happen. But at this minute, with games running out, it’s out of their hands.”
Q: Obviously, Hearts go first this weekend. Are you going to watch the game against Motherwell? Are you going to go along on Saturday night?
Martin O’Neill:Â “No, I think that we will probably be in a hotel the night before. But we’ll definitely be watching the game.”
Q: What do you expect from Rangers, Martin? Because they had such a big blow on Monday, they’ve lost their two games since the split. How do you expect them to approach this game?
Martin O’Neill: “It’s an Old Firm (sic) game, so I think that regardless of what the result was before that, I think there will be a strong Rangers side. But I think there will be a big reaction as well too. So we’ve got to be ready for that ourselves. But the place will be rocking on Sunday. And the crowd at this minute seems a bit of unison within the club at the moment, which is good news. And the players are fed on that as well too, so it will be strong.”
Q: Do you feel it does make a big difference? Because so much has been made about the absence of your fans. In this game in particular, with Rangers fans, will they be there, won’t they be there? Do you feel the atmosphere is going to make a big difference?
Martin O’Neill:Â “I probably played it down and maybe I wasn’t sure when I came in here first of all. And obviously it was a bit of ill-feeling at the time. And it didn’t seem a united football club. Yeah, and I’d said I wasn’t sure that if it affected Maeda or Hatate or people like that. But no, there’s no doubt at all about it. The crowd in full voice for the start, cheering the team on, even allowing for mistakes which we inevitably make. I think that’s been very, very positive. And I think it’s rubbed off on the players.”
Q: What was the team news this weekend?
Martin O’Neill:Â “You mean announcing the team now?”
Q: No, is everyone fit?
Martin O’Neill:Â “Yeah, Daizen, he hurt himself towards the end of the game. He’s fine.”
Q: That’s a big boost given his form?
Martin O’Neill:Â “It is, yeah. Really, really good. He’s trained a bit, he’s got no reaction. He’s going to be fine.”
Q: It’s not just his goals, but his pressing seems to have upped a notch as well. If that was possible?
Martin O’Neill:Â “Absolutely, he’s got his goals from pressing and getting important goals for us in matches. He’s had a super couple of weeks.”
Q: Just going back to that, obviously you had some huge European nights in your first spell. How did the atmosphere in this fixture compare to that?
Martin O’Neill:Â “Every bit as strong. Seriously, every bit as strong. I just go back to the cup game at Ibrox where we had our allocation of fans. From way back in my time before, it’s so strong. It’s still a fantastic fixture.”
Q: Do you feel that your team are in a much better place than when you went to Ibrox for that cup?
Martin O’Neill: “I think in terms of players that we were missing from that game, absolutely. The captain didn’t play in the match. We had a few injury problems and we were coming off the fourth game in about eight or nine days. So yeah, I think we were in a better frame of mind. That augurs well. It doesn’t guarantee anything, but it augurs well.”
Q: Is it the old cliche Martin, that you’re peaking at the right time?
Martin O’Neill: Â “No, I generally don’t know that. I think that the games that we’ve had have been difficult. So I’m not trying to analyse that much about it. We’ve got over the line. We had our difficulties last week. Well, we certainly have. We had a bit of a problem with VAR. We had a bit of a problem with a few decisions. Particularly the first goal that we got, the linesman was about four yards off the pace of the game, but still wanted to be flagged for offside. I don’t know how you saw that. And of course, we should have had a penalty when the player was just pushed off the pitch. But I think that the Old Firm (sic) game looks after itself.”
Q: Are the derby games different now?
Martin O’Neill: “I’ve always been an advocate, and it’s probably not going to happen for a long, long time again, after the debacle at Ibrox, but I’ve been for the full allocation of fans, both at Ibrox and at Celtic Park. And I think that that makes for a fantastic game, fantastic atmosphere. Football’s maybe not always the best, but it’s been really hectic. And I think that part of it, and certainly some of the games that I’ve seen, not as manager here, I thought they’d lost a wee bit of this atmosphere, but outside that, but back in goal for a while, different again.”
Q: If this is to be your last derby game, what do you think you’ll miss most about the fixture?
Martin O’Neill: “Just the intensity, the atmosphere itself, both at Celtic Park and at Ibrox. It really is phenomenal. The atmosphere at Ibrox, particularly in the first game, where they scored two early on in the match, the place was really, really rocking, it compares to any atmosphere in Britain and probably in Europe. And I think that could be echoed on Sunday.”
Q: I know you’ve not looked too far ahead, but do you think it will be your last time managing a fixture this weekend?
Martin O’Neill: “I would say most likely.”
Q: What would you say has been the key to this run of wins you’ve had?
Martin O’Neill: “I just think that the players have, since Tannadice, I think that we had some time to reflect and not to be blaming anything at all, we just blamed our own performance that particular day, especially the second half where we didn’t really create things. Now with the players, it was just like a mindset or a reset, call it what you want. We had time to reflect on it because of the international break. We’ve just come back and gone back to Dundee and it’s gone from there. But we’ve had moments where we’ve had to fight through things, but we’ve seen it through so far. But Sunday was a massive test for us.”
Q: You speak to people like Callum McGregor over the years, all the trophies he’s won, he often talks about, even after winning 20-odd trophies, it’s the fear of missing out on one that drives him on. Do you sense that has maybe jolted the team as well, that there’s a real danger of losing this title?
Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, I’m sure of it. It’s not a position that the football club has found itself in, in recent years. Generally speaking, they’ve gone clear and there’s been no opposition. There’s been plenty of opposition this year, not just from Rangers, but obviously from Hearts. So it’s a big, big change. Not something that a number of these players have been used to. It’s all right, you have to get used to it. You’ve been chasing, you have to keep chasing.”
*Celtic fan media remains banned by the club for no reason whatsoever.
Watch Martin O’Neill’s Media Conference below…
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