Martin O’Neill spoke to Celtic TV as he looked back on the weekend action in the Scottish Premiership, gave a positive update on Daizen Maeda’s fitness ahead of the Glasgow Derby and decided against sending a message to the Celtic support who he reckons know what to do on Sunday…
The Celtic manager is well aware of the impact that the Celtic support can have inside a full to capacity Celtic Park in the upcoming matches against the Rangers on Sunday and Hearts six days later. In between that it’s going to be down to the away support to roar the Bhoys across the line at Fir Park next Wednesday night.
Nine points is the target and if it ultimately comes down to goal difference, enough to get ahead of Hearts and to achieve those objectives the Celtic support as Martin says ‘knows what to do’.
Our last match at Celtic Park against Falkirk was perhaps the most enjoyable day at Paradise this season, because the atmosphere was brilliant before, during and after the match and much of the credit for this has to go to the Celtic Ultras – the Green Brigade and Bhoys Celtic who organised the pre-match welcome themed on the Spirit of ’86 when Celtic pipped Hearts to the title on the last day of the season.
That happening again is every Hearts fan’s worst nightmare!
“There’s an underestimation of the power of the fans,” Martin O’Neill
The interview with the Celtic manager is behind a paywall. We have a subscription to Celtic TV so watched it yesterday. Here’s some of what Martin O’Neill has had to say as we approach the finale to Celtic’s most turbulent season this century with the 74 year-old looking to win both the Scottish Premiership then the Scottish Cup.
“I think there’s an underestimation of the power of the fans. And we’ve witnessed this year just in recent weeks, the full house, the crowd cheering for the team, the noise that emanates from the stadium,” Martin O’Neill told Celtic TV.
“Again, it’s like a throwback to my very, very early games here.”
Having managed Celtic for five years from 2000-05, Martin O’Neill started to really appreciate the power of Paradise with that 6-2 win over Rangers early in his first reign as Celtic boss. Back then my season ticket was in the front run of the upper tier above the North Curve and it wasn’t just the support that was bouncing – so was the stand itself.
We’d experience that sensation often during Martin’s exceptional five seasons in charge and perhaps we’ll get more of the same against the Rangers then again next Saturday against Hearts.
“And of course we’ll get thwarted, the crowd will get anxious about things, but generally, the last few games at Celtic Park, certainly the players haven’t only risen to the occasion, but they’ve noticed the amazing difference,” Martin O’Neill said.
Positive news on Daizen Maeda’s fitness
On Daizen Maeda, an early injury concern after appearing to be suffering from an ankle knock after the win against Hibs at Easter Road on Sunday, the Celtic boss delivered a positive update on a player who is going to be so crucial over these upcoming four matches across the two competitions.
“He’s making good progress. That’s good news. He is definitely doing well. We’ve got a few days yet. He’ll want to play.
“There’s no doubt at all about it. He’s had a new lease of life in recent weeks. He’s been terrific for us. So I think that even at this early stage of the week, I’d be very confident that he would be on the field.”
Martin O’Neill, who earlier in the week gave his thoughts on the Rangers losing at Tynecastle to Hearts on Bank Holiday Monday after being a goal ahead at the break, now looked at the challenge that Danny Rohl’s side will provide at the Glasgow Derby on Sunday lunchtime.
“A very strong challenge, obviously. You mentioned this about the wounded animal. I think that if we look back last week, they played exceptionally well in the first half against Hearts. They were in complete control of the game and got the goal to go in front.” Martin O’Neill said.
“It spooked Rangers a little bit,” Martin O’Neill
The Celtic manager expected Derek McInnes to change things at the break and reckoned the addition of an extra man in midfield, with Hearts going 3-5-2 ‘spooked’ Rangers. Could He be thinking along similar lines at the weekend? Remember 3-5-2 was Martin’s preferred system first time around at Celtic.
“Hearts were obviously going to have a reaction. You can’t be leading that league for that length of time and not have something. And they did, and I think that it seemed as if it spooked Rangers a little bit.
“So that was that game last week. They’ve lost the match, they’re now seven points behind Hearts,” Martin O’Neill noted.
Asked what message he’d give the Celtic support ahead of Sunday. Martin thought about it before coming to the conclusion that he doesn’t have to give any message to the Celtic supporters heading to Paradise in Sunday.
“They’ll know what to do,” he said. We sure do Martin. See you on Sunday!
Post your own thoughts in the comments section below…
Quick Tip – Add Celticshorts.com as your ‘Preferred Source’ on Google News for quick access to the Celtic content you value the most. It takes just a few seconds and you’ll notice the difference straight away! – Click HERE….Hail Hail!
