Celtic 4-0 Dundee Utd – “We played well today, which was nice,” Martin O’Neill

In partnership with

The Celtic Star

·10 January 2026

Celtic 4-0 Dundee Utd – “We played well today, which was nice,” Martin O’Neill

Martin O’Neill spoke to the mainstream media this afternoon after guiding Celtic to a comprehensive 4-0 win over Dundee United at Celtic Park. What a difference a week makes! Just a pity the Celtic Board didn’t sack Wilfried Nancy after that dreadful night at Fir Park when all all knew he was finished…

Celtic interim manager Martin O’Neill arrives prior to the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Dundee United at Celtic Park on January 10, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: Well, Martin, you needn’t have worried, you’ve still got it!

OneFootball Videos

Martin O’Neill: “We played well today, which was nice, but obviously, the most important thing was winning. I thought we played really well, it was nice to see players performing well, playing with confidence, and it was just nice to win.”

Q: How pleased are you just how quickly the players seem to revert back into exactly what you and the guys are wanting to do?

Celtic interim manager Martin O’Neill reacts during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Dundee United at Celtic Park on January 10, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Martin O’Neill: “I think that would be too early to assess them and think they’re doing that. When I was here, the two lads at the back, Liam Scales and Auston Trusty, did great for me. And I thought it was just a relatively easy decision to put Scales back in again. Kieran Tierney is getting fitter each particular game, as if he’s lasting out. The young Bournemouth lad [Julian Araujo], he did really fine in the game. I hope he wasn’t getting carried away with himself with you guys [the press].

Q: He called you gaffer!

Martin O’Neill: “Did he? So he should!”

Q: It says a lot for your players’ mentality that they’ve come through another week of turmoil with the change and produce a performance like that?

Martin O’Neill: “There’ll be plenty more turmoil between now and then at the end of the season! It’s nice. We’ve got a big game on Wednesday, so the lads are off tomorrow, ready for Monday now. Don’t get carried away, I thought we played really well. Somebody told me we had, like, 32 passes in the build-up to the first goal. But we still have to score it, you know? And while we had things that were flying across the box and we had a bit of pressure, you know, you still have to break them down. And so Yang, who’s having a really good time of it at the minute, it was nice to score. Great.”

Yang Hyun-Jun of Celtic during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Dundee United at Celtic Park on January 10, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: Do you think Yang, I mean, you did a bit of work with him the first time? I see comparisons with what you did with Bobby Petta. When you first got him, you transformed the confidence first and gave him that belief?

Martin O’Neill: “It’s the way that he can go past players, which is great. That’s a big, big asset in today’s game. Big, big asset. So he can go past them. Sometimes I think he might actually even be better on the left-hand side, checking in and coming in, because he can hit, and he can get clear of players when he’s coming in. But Sebastian Tounekti did well today, you know, on the other side. And Yang, having played on the right-hand side for the last couple of games, that was fine, just to keep it at that.”

Q: How much of a confidence boost can that result, the clean sheet, give them for the remainder of the campaign?

Martin O’Neill: “Well, naturally here, I would have taken a victory in any way, but the lads know that anyway, so you kind of get bored listening to it. But I would have taken it. But the way we performed today should give them extra confidence anyway.

Daizen Maeda of Celtic scores our fourth goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Dundee United at Celtic Park on January 10, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: Just on Daizen, Martin, he scored today. You said earlier in the week you were going to maybe speak to him and his agent about his future. Have you got any update on that situation?

Martin O’Neill: “No, I haven’t at the minute and I will do now that we’ve got a couple of days, you know, on Monday and Tuesday. I would hope that he’d stay at the football club. I’m fearful of saying something to you here and finding out maybe three days later something else has happened. But no, I wouldn’t want to lose him.”

Benjamin Nygren celebrates his goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Dundee United at Celtic Park on January 10, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: Martin, watching that game today, if you’ve just come in from afar and seen it, you would actually wonder what all the fuss has been about for Celtic this season. It just seems so seamless?

Martin O’Neill: “We did play very well. Sometimes I leave that out when we’re talking about winning the game. The winning, of course, was very, very important. The performance was really good. Again, it does give you a boost. But Wednesday night is a big test for us. I thought that we were ready for the game from yesterday’s training. But you never really know until you play. Liam Scales, he’s made a really good challenge. That’s just after we had scored as well. So that could be an important moment. What I’m saying to you is if the confidence is kind of fragile, then that sort of thing can change again, then it gives the opposition a big boost. But we rode that one out and we saw it through.”

Benjamin Nygren of Celtic celebrates after he scores our third goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Dundee United at Celtic Park on January 10, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: Can I ask, I’ve watched you for all the goals and you didn’t celebrate. For the first two, you just sort of gave a little bit… Was that conscious or was it just…?

Martin O’Neill: “No, no, no. I just get worried. First of all, I’m getting old and therefore I can’t jump as high. And I’m frightened in case I fall down and embarrass myself!

Q: Seriously?

Martin O’Neill: “Well, it’s part of it. No, it is the part of it. I have made a fool of myself on plenty of occasions. Jumping up and then you’ve got a bit of studs in here and they can maybe slide and you feel it complete. No, but just getting the goals. I didn’t celebrate because I get worried.

Q: Inside it must have been…

Martin O’Neill: “A great feeling, honestly. It’s really lovely tonight, honestly. So I shall watch the American football with great delight.’

Q: Which game?

Martin O’Neill: “Well, whatever’s on. I think there’s usually someone on Saturday. There are play-offs. It’s got to the play-off stages. So I haven’t had time to look, but I think it’ll be on at some stage.”

Daizen Maeda of Celtic after he scores our fourth goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Dundee United at Celtic Park on January 10, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: Great result, Martin. But you said not to get carried away. You also said yesterday you don’t want to hang about on new signings. So are you hopeful you might get some in?

Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, I am hopeful that we are going to get some people in. But just when you think that something might happen, things change around. Listen, it’s not me filibustering. It’s just me feeling that until they’re over the line, I can’t come up and say that it’s happened. We obviously need to do it, even just to give help to the boys at present at the minute. Because this week, the week that’s just gone in, was the only week that we have had, since I’ve come to the football club, we have had a free week. And from here on in, we go right through now to I don’t know how long, because we’re going midweek each time. So there’ll be no respite. If we pick up injuries to really key players here, we could be in serious trouble.”

Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin and Celtic interim manager Martin O’Neill at full time during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Dundee United at Celtic Park on January 10, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: A 4-0 win changes nothing in the sense that there’s still a critical need for quality players?

Martin O’Neill: “Oh, it’s not changed to me. Not at all. We need some people in. And we are, honestly, we are working on it. It doesn’t seem as if you believe me, but we’re actually working on it.”

All Books Now Half Price in the Celtic Star Books January Sale…

These books now available at at HALF PRICE in our January sale – click on image to order…

Order from Celtic Star Books HERE!

Please note that p&p is priced at £4.50 is only charged on ONE book so you can buy as many of our books as you like and the postage cost will remain the same. Why not expand your Celtic library today?