Here’s everything that was said at the Celtic manager’s mainstream media conference yesterday afternoon as explanations of sorts were offered on why the Iheanacho and Saracchi deals collapsed and some tantalising hints that a few new arrivals could be incoming next week. Let’s not count any chickens…
Q: Martin, what was the main thing you took away from that today?
Martin O’Neill: “For us, I thought improvement in fitness as much as anything else and obviously pleased with some of the aspects of the game. Sometimes in possession, I thought we did really well. Other times without the ball, I think that we could do better. Overall, it’s a good workout for us.”
Q: How nice is it as a manager to get not only new signings scoring but when he’s an attacking player as well?
Martin O’Neill: “I think, I’ve just done the interview there with Celtic TV (see below), I think if he stays clear of a serious injury this season, I think he’ll be a big asset to us. He can hold it up. He is incredibly enthusiastic, can close players down but the main thing is that he wants to play and he wants to improve and I think he will do.”
Q: Generally speaking, where are you in comparison to where you hoped you’d be and wanted to be at this stage of pre-season?
Martin O’Neill: “Are you meaning in terms of fitness or in terms of players?”
Q: Both, all round…
Martin O’Neill: Â “I think that it’s a balancing act for us and other teams who have had players away in the World Cup. We’ve got a couple back, they were only back the last couple of days so they were never going to be involved in this one, although some of them wanted to be. So by the time next week, these boys will have had some training which will be good and we’ll take it on from there. That’s one aspect. The second aspect is that I think that we, with a little bit of luck, we should have some more players coming into the football club.”
Q: On that, in the last couple of days, Kelechi Iheanacho signed elsewhere, how disappointing was that for you?
Martin O’Neill: Â “Well there’s always two sides to every particular transfer, there is to every story. He’s gone, I thought that we had a deal with him at the time but seemingly that wasn’t the case and so he’s gone to pastures new, so there we go.”
Q: Marcelo Saracchi said he did everything to stay at Celtic?
Martin O’Neill: “Again, two sides to every story.”
Q: Is that one you’re disappointed to not have for this season?
Martin O’Neill: “In disappointment, I thought that I jokingly said after he made the goal against Hearts that I would give him a 26-year deal I think at the time. I think that might have been a slight exaggeration, but it’s happened, players have gone. What I would say about Saracchi, I think he’s done really well at the football club and I think there were just circumstances in which it seemingly was never going to happen.”
Q: On Iheanacho, is there a reason you know why the option in his contract wasn’t triggered?
Martin O’Neill: “Well, I think the option ran out, that’s fine, but the option would be to take someone I assume on similar terms as before, so that I think is probably the difference really. I thought he did terrifically well for us as a real impact player coming on. In my two spells here, he actually started one game for us, which was the game against Dundee United, but he was definitely where I would have thought it would be nice to have had him for pre-season, so that you maybe can garner a lot of fitness for him. But he’s chosen to go elsewhere, that’s fine, you’d have to ask him.”
Q: Since we spoke to you on Tuesday, has there been any progress on any potential newcomers?
Martin O’Neill: “There has, there has, absolutely.`’
Have you got a potential time frame for that?
Martin O’Neill: “No, just hold fire, because there’s no point in me telling you they’re coming in on Monday and they don’t come in until Wednesday, you know. So yeah, we are making some progress.”
Q: In terms of numbers as well?
Martin O’Neill: “Oh no, it’s no good, honestly. We had a good time in Portugal, don’t spoil it, honestly, a really good time. I wanted to come and join you for an evening’s drinking, just to remind myself of what it used to be like, you know, and just don’t spoil my numbers please today, all right, okay. Ask me on Monday week, all right.”
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Q: Is it important to communicate to the fans that they can take some comfort that there is progress being made?
Martin O’Neill: Â “I think that’s right, I think you’re absolutely spot on, I think that, yeah. But what you don’t want to do, is you don’t want to, as we’ve just found out there, with one where we thought that we had a deal with Iheanacho and it didn’t go, then we actually did think it was something that was sorted out. So I don’t want to be turning around and saying something is absolutely there until it’s done, because you’re going to get that. But there’s definitely progress being made and if that’s the message that’s coming out from me today, that is right.”
Q: Can you understand why a lot of fans stayed away?
Martin O’Neill: Â “In terms of people staying away, I’m delighted that the people who came, because first of all, it’s summertime for a start. Secondly, it is pretty expensive to come to football matches now. We’ve got a game against AC Milan next week as well, so that’d be some people maybe coming to both games, that’s a lot of money, and then you have to buy a season ticket on top of that. So no, life is changing, there’s no question about it. This is not 25 years ago when you would fill the stadium for a pre-season friendly. It’s not, life has changed.”
Are you hopeful that it returns back to normal as it was in the last seven or eight weeks of the season when the proper stuff starts?
Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, I think when there’s something really to play for, this is a pre-season friendly game, and Middlesbrough brought a lot of fans down against a side who really could be easily in the Premier League for next season. But no, when they were asked to come, the fans turned up and in the split games, I thought they were fantastic. I thought they, honestly, as well as some brilliant play by Daizen, good play by a number of players, I thought they carried us over the line. And I think that’s the message that I would give to them.”
Q: Can I just ask you, you said about Kelechi’s option that ran out, is that something that happened at the end of the season, maybe before you were back in charge?
Martin O’Neill: “No, I don’t know what date or anything it gets to and there’s no point. I’ve just tried to answer it there as best as possible. I thought that we had a deal with him and no, it didn’t materialise. So if he’s gone to another football club, that’s really, that’s his decision.”
Q: Martin, I know you said you were due to have a chat with Callum, have you had that conversation with him yet?
Martin O’Neill: “No, not yet. No, no, just too busy drinking with the lads! So once I sober up, then I’ll have that conversation with him and it’ll take me to Monday or Tuesday.”
Watch Martin O’Neill’s Mainstream Media Conference from yesterday afternoon after the 1-1 draw against Middlesbrough at a nearly empty Celtic Park below…
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