Martin O’Neill ponders Celtic future after Old Firm loss

Martin O’Neill will take stock as his future as Celtic boss came under further scrutiny following a 1-0 defeat by Rangers at Parkhead.

The Light Blues cruised to a 3-0 Premier Sports Cup win over the Hoops at Ibrox last Sunday and, in the William Hill Premiership rematch, a first-half strike by Ryan Naderi took Derek McInnes’ side to within two points of the Hoops at the top of the table going into the international break.

The 74-year-old O’Neill, in his second spell as permanent manager after two stints as interim boss last season, was under growing pressure going into the game after the 3-1 loss to Ferencvaros at Parkhead on Thursday night.

After another poor performance, he spoke about entering a period of self-reflection.

The Derryman said: “I will reflect on the games.

“I’ll obviously speak to the board. And you never know, they may want to speak to me. But yeah, I’ll see. I’ve got some time to do that.

“I will have a look, try and get a couple of days away and see how it goes.”

Asked what would happen if he reflected then decided he could not improve the team, O’Neill replied: “By that time, I will promise you, I’ll let you know.

“I don’t know. I’ll have a look.”

O’Neill addressed the growing negativity within the Hoops support, saying: “Well, I think they’re absolutely entitled.

“I mentioned this to you on Friday, absolutely entitled to, of course.

“And I’m not immune from criticism. Far from it. Absolutely and utterly far from it.

“I think there’s every reason to ask, ‘can you turn this round? Can you change the whole thing?’

“We are, as I said, two points clear, so I have to kind of look at the bigger picture at this minute.

“But I knew that we were in a big, big fight anyway, with both ourselves, Rangers, and Hearts again, who are far from out of anything.

“It’s a long season ahead. It’s not the first time I’ve been questioned about my managerial time. So, yeah, I’ll have a look at it. I will reflect and see.”

McInnes claims Rangers should have won by more after controlling the second half in front of only Celtic supporters inside the ground, due to a ticket allocation spat between the two clubs.

The boss spoke of having a growing “trust” in his players following a poor start to the season.

He said: “I’m absolutely delighted as I thought it was a thoroughly deserved three points. In the context of the season, it was very important.

“We’d have heard all about if we’d lost and the gap was stretched to eight points at this early stage.

“So it was important to close that gap and also – with such a young squad – having the belief and confidence to win a game in this environment.

“Although we won 1-0, we should have scored more and added to it.

“While it’s 1-0, Celtic are always going to keep going in front of their own fans.

“But we defended brilliantly as a team and winning here is another good reference point for us after last week.

“It’s still early in the season, only September, and there’s 80-odd points to play for, so no one is getting carried away.

“But to back up last week’s performance and result was really big for us.”