“They have to dig in, and for that there I am obviously eternally grateful,” Martin O’Neill

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·15. Januar 2026

“They have to dig in, and for that there I am obviously eternally grateful,” Martin O’Neill

Martin O’Neill spoke to the media following Celtic’s hard-fought 1-0 victory over Falkirk last night. Here is everything that a proper Celtic manager boss had to say…

Martin O’Neill arrives at the Falkirk Stadium. Falkirk v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, Falkirk Stadium, 14 January 2026. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

Q: Martin, how do you sum up that game, that performance from your team?

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Martin O’Neill: “We didn’t play well in the game. We saw it through, and we can play much, much better. Just seems strange in contrast to where we were so good on Saturday and tentative tonight, lost the ball in areas where we shouldn’t have been doing it. Overall, I think Falkirk would have found themselves really unlucky to be behind at half-time in the game. I thought we pressed a bit better in the second half, but overall, we didn’t play well in the game.”

Falkirk Stadium. Falkirk v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, Falkirk Stadium, 14 January 2026. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

Q: Before looking at the positives, because it is a win on the road and a difficult place to come, why do you think that is, given how good Saturday was?

Martin O’Neill: “You know what, I just thought, certainly in the first half, it seemed, and sometimes you get an impression that it might not have been near, but we were second best, and I thought that we seemed devoid of that real, real energy that is necessary. Obviously, I am delighted to have won the game because we will play better.”

Falkirk Stadium.

Q: What did you say to the players after the full-time whistle? Did you say that it has got to better or did you say, look, let’s put it behind it, it is another three points we have got to get?

Martin O’Neill: “Well, I will have a look at it again anyway. Obviously, there are loads of things that you can improve on, but the most important thing, I have said this often enough, is obviously winning, tonight particularly. Hearts have won as well too, and our margin of error is very, very small really. We dropped a lot of points where winning tonight was the most important thing. We can play much better and we will. Having said this, there are some really decent performances. Kasper makes a great save for us, really, really great save, which he has been doing all his life, in all honesty, and particularly when his dad was here. So, there you are, emulating the father, can’t be bad.”

Sean Maloney arrives at the Falkirk Stadium. Falkirk v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, Falkirk Stadium, 14 January 2026. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

Q: Is it this kind of performance, Martin, when you talk about needing recruits and needing fresh blood, is this kind of exhibit A?

Martin O’Neill: “I think that is a good point, yes, it is. You know, I am trying. I know I have not done anything since yesterday, but I am trying, and we will definitely get people in.”

https://twitter.com/ClydeSSB/status/2011570129583091974?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Q: Just in terms of the mood at the moment, as you mentioned, you have brought things back as two wins, two clean sheets, despite the performance. Is it a case of just having to churn them out and keep going until that recruitment arrives?

Martin O’Neill: “I think that is absolutely right, yes, we will have to do that. It is nice, Saturday was nice to play in the manner in which we did and it was great, particularly the first game back in this new spell of mine. Is it the second spell or is it the 43rd? I don’t know. But tonight, yes, and I think, I mean the circumstances are totally different. We are playing on an artificial surface, no problem with that. I have no problem because they played pretty well on the artificial surface or scored four goals against Livingston a couple of weeks ago, so that shouldn’t really be a problem, and that is the same for everyone. But just things were different, and you have to adjust, you have to adapt, you have to do all of these things. That is the nature of the game for the players. They have to dig in, and for that there I am obviously eternally grateful.”

Q: There is a player in Slovenia, Franco Kovacevic, who has been linked Celtic tonight, a striker. Is he someone you would have a look at?

Martin O’Neill: “I think that I would, I am probably sure I have done, I have only looked at about four and a half thousand at this minute, and that is not bad since I am only in a week! So, yes, we definitely, you can tell a mile away, we need to get a centre forward. I mean, for instance, young Johnny Kenny has done really fine in the games. I think that is really harsh, to put that sort of pressure on a young lad, he has only just arrived at the football club. So, we are looking for help. I am not diverting to your thing, I am just not answering you!”

Conor Spence

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