Martin O’Neill has dismissed Hearts’ criticism of the scenes following Celtic’s title-clinching victory on Saturday, branding the club’s strongly-worded statement “nonsense”…
The Celtic manager was speaking on talkSPORT after the Hoops sealed the title in dramatic fashion at Celtic Park. Hearts had condemned the post-match celebrations, describing the pitch invasion and surrounding incidents as “shameful” and “an embarrassment to Scottish football”.
O’Neill, however, insisted the reaction had been exaggerated and questioned some of the claims surrounding the aftermath of the game.
“I don’t know about confrontations in terms of the Hearts players,” he said. “There’s a lot of hyperbole about that.
“Let’s find out the real picture – the fact is when we scored the third goal, the game was essentially over. There were about eight seconds left, perhaps, in the game.
“The referee has claimed he has blown the final whistle. And there’s obvious excitement. We have scored to win the league.”
Presenter Jim White then challenged O’Neill on whether supporters should be entering the pitch under any circumstances, prompting a sharp response from the 74-year-old.
“Start telling that to every single football club,” O’Neill replied.
Hearts had issued a statement on Saturday evening condemning the disorder at full-time, but O’Neill suggested similar incidents have occurred elsewhere without attracting the same level of outrage.
“As they might do,” he said. “I don’t believe that. I think it’s nonsense. Was there not a scene at Ibrox where both sets of fans came onto the pitch?”
Conor Spence
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