Martin O’Neill spoke to the mainstream media earlier today at Lennoxtown ahead of the Scottish Premiership match at Easter Road on Sunday afternoon against Hibs…
A reminder that the Celtic fan media remains banned by the club. Here’s everything that the broadcast media chaps asked and the responses that the Celtic manager gave in reply…
Q: Can we start with just a bit of team news, how’s the squad looking, any fresh injuries ahead of the weekend?
Martin O’Neill: “No, we’re pretty good. Alistair Johnston has done a week’s work as well too, so that’s encouraging. We’re okay, nothing new.”
👊 Putting in the work at LXT#HIBCEL | #CelticFC🍀 pic.twitter.com/BmQ4SuX7Uz
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) May 1, 2026
Q: Hibs are the next huddle to overcome? Your thoughts on David Gray’s men and going to Easter Road?
Martin O’Neill: “Oh, I don’t need to say, it’s a really difficult task for us. They beat us at Celtic Park as well too, so I’m sure they’ll want to complete the double over us in that sense. It’s a big game for us, a really, really big game.”
Q: There’s been a lot of furore about this, some Hibs fans are wanting you to win, not their own team, because they can’t see Hearts winning the title. What do you make of all this, the madness of this title, what it’s doing to certain supporters?
Martin O’Neill: “Well, actually, I can maybe understand that, that maybe some Hibs fans wouldn’t want Hearts to win the league. But that won’t cross over to their team selection, to the coaching staff, absolutely not, and to the players. In fact, I think they would be more invigorated by the news of that there, so if I could call upon some Hibs fans to refrain from that, that would help! But, no, I get it, I understand that, I’m quite sure here it would be something similar for some Celtic fans who might not want their closest rivals to win. I don’t mean closest in that sense, the ones that are pretty well, not too far away.”
🔊 LISTEN: “I get it… I’m sure here it would be similar!”
🍀 Celtic boss Martin O’Neill says he understands why some Hibs fans want their team to lose when the two sides meet this weekend, with Hearts still top of the league.
However, O’Neill says it won’t affect the game. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/NSIJ0zEzum
— Clyde 1 Superscoreboard (@ClydeSSB) May 1, 2026
Q: Just in terms of the other two sides in the title race, playing the day after, how big of an advantage is it, first of all, that you get to play first, and how important is it to put three points on the board and pressurise the other team?
Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, I think I said last week, it’s only an advantage if you win, and that was the point. So we were able to overcome Falkirk, which was great in that sense, and so there’s a sense as if you’ve done that job for the weekend, and then you just sit back. Mostly, up until the Falkirk game, we’ve been the ones playing afterwards and trying to catch up, and I think after we lost at Tannadice, it was a good distance behind. So from that viewpoint, it’s only an advantage if you can win, so that’s all we can do.”
Q: Just on the madness of the title race… Will you be watching on Monday, will you be watching it by yourself, will you be watching the game?
Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, yeah. I know that some managers say, oh well don’t bother, they’ll go for a walk or do something. No, I’m glued to it. Don’t you worry, I’ll be there. If you’re asking who I’m cheering on, I have no idea. Don’t even ask, I have no idea. Depending on how we do, I might, if we don’t win the game or lose the match, that becomes a different thought process, but at the end of it all, yeah, of course I’ll be watching because we have to play those teams.”
Q: So you might find yourself cheering Rangers on for a goal then?
Martin O’Neill: “I might not go that far!”
Q: Martin, if I can take you back to the Dundee United game at Tannadice, just wondering how you felt after that game, looking back, and how much different do you feel now?
Martin O’Neill: “I thought that it was big three points dropped. I didn’t feel we were out of it at that stage. I just didn’t because I thought there were twists and turns, as it’s been proved. What it did do, it put us under enormous pressure to come and win our games, which we’ve done since that. Travelling back after the international break for the two weeks, then coming back to Dundee, the city of Dundee, to try and win that game, that was big. So, yeah, after losing at Tannadice, it was a long time to think about the game, really a long time, so it was three points dropped, it was a big setback, but I didn’t think it was fatal.”
Q: I think you said that day you would need to win the rest of the games, so far you’ve done that?
Martin O’Neill: “We’ve done it, yeah, there’s still a distance to go, but we’ve fought back, we got the late goal, Iheanacho at Dens Park, which was big, and we followed it up, beating St Mirren, and then we followed it up after the cup game here, we’ve beaten Falkirk. So we’re winning some matches, we’ve got a lot of work to do, but we’re in, still there fighting for the chance.”
Q: Do you sense there’s a momentum there now?
Martin O’Neill: “Well, I don’t know, the momentum can get cut short, you think as if you’ve got on a roll and you’re doing fine. What we’ve done, I think that some of the players are really coming back to form. Daizen Maeda’s done brilliantly in recent weeks, so that’s very, very encouraging for us. I genuinely don’t think that we would have the ability to carry two players, you know, well below their form in games, it’s just, it would be too much now at this stage. You might have been able to have done it August, September time, but not now.”
Q: Can I ask Martin about the upcoming derby with (the)Rangers, obviously we know the ticket dispute between both clubs, we’re expecting maybe a decision on that today, the SPFL have been meeting around it. How optimistic are you that the decision will fall in Celtic’s favour?
Martin O’Neill: “Well, that’s a really good point, the answer is I don’t know, so the decision has not been made yet.”
Q: We’re hopeful of an announcement at some point today.
Martin O’Neill: “Well, I’m hoping that that will be after I’ve done this interview!”
Q: Your thoughts on the matter anyway?
Martin O’Neill: “No, no, why don’t we wait until the news comes through, alright?”
Q: If it’s a full Celtic park, is that a sporting advantage?
Martin O’Neill: “What do you mean a full Celtic Park?”
Q: A full home crowd, sorry, if the SPFL fall in Celtic’s favour. And not have any (the) Rangers fans in?
Martin O’Neill: “(the)Rangers will, I believe, will have fans in, won’t they?
Q: Potentially not.
Martin O’Neill: “Potentially not? Okay, well we will wait for the decision then. Then you can ask me.”
Martin O’Neill also spoke separately to Sky Sports as they are broadcasting Sunday’s match at Easter Road. You can watch that interview below…
🗣️ “Usually the league’s over by this stage”
❌ Hibs loss “wouldn’t enter their heads”
👀 Carter-Vickers “joined in” on trainingHear from Celtic manager Martin O’Neill ahead of Sunday’s trip to Easter Road to face Hibernian – live on Sky Sports from 11am 📺 pic.twitter.com/CKZZcu7CGH
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) May 1, 2026
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1 Comment
Yes they are buy we have to get rid of some of the squad but they wont go for less wages older ones and rightly so Celtic have to embears them Id always say a club have a four five year plan to build up a champions league squad spl can do that in a season but the rangers owners wont spend all the money coming in yhey are after profit abd have to show profit ymthat includes tje money they put into club if they spend £20 million be a big suprise