“We finally scored the penalty, what was it, the sixth attempt,” Martin O’Neill | OneFootball

Here’s everything Martin O’Neill had to say at Ibrox to Sky Sports, Celtic TV and his post match media conference after Celtic fought back from 2-0 down to earn a valuable point in a 2-2 draw, with Luke McCowan telling the Celtic manager that he perhaps should also have scored…

Danny Rohl and Martin O’Neill look on during the Scottish Premiership match between theRangers and Celtic at Ibrox on March 01, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: Martin, I’m guessing real highs and lows in that one today, a first half to forget, but a second half that was much, much better?

Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, I agree with you. Yeah, we were second best almost all of the first half, and (the)Rangers got off to a great start and capitalised on our uncertainty, I think, as much as anything else. But, yeah, it was a tough first half for us and we had to try and turn it around if we could. And the players showed some character to come back. And other than the first three or four minutes of the second half, I thought we dominated the whole second half.

“So much so that the crowd were perhaps turning on their own players. So we were so dominant and you wonder where it came from or why we couldn’t have strung a couple of passes together in the first half or defended it a wee bit better. Although the first goal was a really great goal, their first goal. But it was lovely to come out and get something. We could easily have won it at the end. Luke says he thinks maybe he should have scored. I haven’t seen very many things back at the moment. But, yeah, I’m in total agreement with you. First half, totally (the)Rangers. Second half, totally us.”

Celtic and theRangers players clash at the end of the game as Martin O’Neill, Interim Manager of Celtic intervenes during the Scottish Premiership match between theRangers and Celtic at Ibrox on March 01, 2026. (Photo by WM Sport Media/Getty Images)

Q: You made those changes at half-time, bringing on Reo Hatate, Sebastian Tounekti. Just how vital do you feel that was in just trying to gain some control of the game?

Martin O’Neill:  “Yeah, get some control of the game. I think it’s a difficult one for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. He’s trying to get up to speed still at this minute, not having played. He’s still a very fine footballer. And it was one of those where you play him until he gets really tired. Just the game was so fast. It was so, so fast, particularly the first half. And I think we as a team struggled with it, you know, the intensity of it.

Sebastian Tounekti of Celtic celebrates his team’s second goal scored by teammate Reo Hatate (not pictured) in front of theRangers fans during the Scottish Premiership match between theRangers and Celtic at Ibrox on March 01, 2026. (Photo by WM Sport Media/Getty Images)

“But we showed great character to fight back. And in the manner in which we got it down and played in the second half, we caused them all sorts of problems. We retained the ball better. And when it was kicked back into our half, we got it again. I was trying to think of the modern word for it. Circulating ball or something like that, whatever it is. But we did it all in the second half and we deserved it.”

Q: Just on that, Martin, in terms of the manner in which your team came back to get the ball, how much confidence do you think this will give your team in the last nine or ten games of the season?

Martin O’Neill:  “Yeah, well, I think that today’s result, I think if you belong to Hearts, you’ll think that’s a really good result for them. But even so, we’re not out of it. But if the game had ended at half-time in our performance in the first half, we’d have thought, well, we’re a million miles off it. Now, by the end of the game, the manner in which we played, particularly here at Ibrox, playing away from home, 2-0 down and fight back. So there’s still plenty of heart and desire to try and retain the championship. But it’s just been a really tough old struggle this season. And we just have to try and dig it out.”

Referee John Beaton intervenes as Luke McCowan of Celtic clashes with Mohammed Diomande of theRangers during the Scottish Premiership match between Rangers and Celtic at Ibrox on March 01, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: The way you’re talking, Martin, is it a frustration that you didn’t win the game because of the chances you had in the second half?

Martin O’Neill:  “I think if you look at it, if you had told me at half-time, we’ll get out of this with something, it looked a long, long way off. But by the time that the game was over, I think, yeah, the very fact that on the penalty, when we finally scored the penalty, what was it, the sixth attempt, I think! We put it in the net, then Hatate is racing out to put the ball in the halfway line. So there is a bit of frustration, but I think still to be in the title race here, it looked pretty daunting by half-time.”

Q: I suppose it’s your job now to make sure the games are coming now that the team starts better?

Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, absolutely. Couldn’t have started any worse. So, yeah, big game for us now on Wednesday. It’s the only one I’m thinking about.

Reo Hatate of Celtic celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the Scottish Premiership match between theRangers and Celtic at Ibrox on March 01, 2026 (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: Tempers flared a bit at full-time, as they quite often do in these types of games. Was it just your job to try and calm things down?

Martin O’Neill:  “Well, I was going over to, I mean, me at my age, you know, honestly. But, you know, I’ve managed a team where there was proper having a go. This was really, it was feeble! It was really feeble, you know. Honestly, somebody holding somebody else’s shirt. It was feeble, really feeble on both sides, you know. The only reason I went into it was I didn’t, you know, somebody says something out of turn or bites back. I just didn’t want any after match sending offs.”

Q: Martin, what specifically did you say to them at half-time? What was the core message when you’d been so far out of it, as you rightly said, to turn around so much? Was there a key theme?

Martin O’Neill:  “No, I just, you have to try. Sometimes it’s not always possible to stay positive, particularly on a pretty poor performance. So I think the general message was, despite us not being at the races in the first half, we’re actually still in the game. We can turn this round. The next goal becomes the most important thing. If (the)Rangers get it, it’s miles away. But if we can get the goal, we’re still in the game. And I think that was roughly it.”

Reo Hatate of Celtic scores his team’s second goal from a rebound after his penalty kick was saved by Jack Butland of Rangers (not pictured) during the Scottish Premiership match between theRangers and Celtic at Ibrox on March 01, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: Were you concerned at all that the energy levels might be beyond the players?

Martin O’Neill: “I did. I did, absolutely. Because we went in with the front three afterThursday, and that was always a concern. So for us to play in the manner in which we did in the second half, almost have scant regard for lack of energy, I think that was terrific. And that’s the thing that kept me going, you know.

Q: Young Dane Murray made a mistake for the second Rangers goal. How impressed were you with the way that he put that behind him?

Martin O’Neill: “He fought back, yes. He won a lot of headers, a lot of big headers for us. He’s only a young kid, really, at the end. He’s lost two years in the game because of serious injuries and stuff like that. So after that there, he could have capitulated. But he didn’t do, and he showed a lot of character.

Q: Martin, you mentioned, you touched on your half-time team talk, did you mention your birthday?

Martin O’Neill: “To the birthday, no. We stayed overnight last night, and the hotel and the backroom staff dimmed the lights and put a birthday cake on. It was pathetic. Honestly, it was pathetic. Because the problem is, my birthday was not until after 12 o’clock, and I could have died between 7.30 and 12 o’clock. Seriously, and then I don’t know who would have eaten the cake. Probably Fotheringham, you know?

Q: I’ll just ask you about the goalkeeping situation, Martin. I think you said before the game that Kasper Schmeichel was under the weather?

Martin O’Neill: “The point I want to try and make is that Thursday, I thought Sinisalo did really well in the game, did really well. Sometimes, you know, when you’re changing goalkeepers around to play in certain competitions, then if somebody steps up and does really well in the game, but I hadn’t any real decision to make today, you know, in that sense. Maybe later on down the line.’

Dane Murray of Celtic heads the ball while under pressure from Emmanuel Fernandez of theRangers during the ScottishPremiership match between theRangers and Celtic at Ibrox on March 01, 2026. (Photo by WM Sport Media/Getty Images)

Q: I know you’ve got a huge league game in midweek, but obviously we’re back here again next weekend. What bearing will today have on the cup tie next week?

Martin O’Neill: “Probably very little, but I’m saying this now, and when I start to think about it, maybe it will have. We’ll have a bigger crowd as well too, which will be great in that aspect. But the atmosphere was, today, even though I was getting plenty of abuse myself, no problem, honestly, I would have been disappointed if I hadn’t been getting it. The atmosphere for the Old Firm (sic) game, it really brought me back, honestly, it did. It was electric.”

Q: Will Kasper be okay for Wednesday?

“Should be, should be, yeah. Should be available for selection. Yeah, so we’ll see. Sorry, just getting back to the point you make, Sunday really, we’ll have a chat about it during the week, but Sunday’s like a million miles away from me, honestly. I’m just trying to come back down, get the heart rate back down again, you know, and maybe eat a bit of that birthday cake.”

Celtic in the Thirties by Matt Corr. Click on image to order

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