Martin O'Neill quizzed on Celtic team selection after League Cup defeat as Rangers mauling a ‘wake-up call’
Celtic boss insists his players must learn from their League Cup setback ahead of next weekend’s crucial re-match
Martin O’Neill admitted Celtic were second best throughout as they suffered a disappointing 3-0 defeat to Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-finals - conceding the result was a fair reflection on the balance of play.
The deflated Hoops boss did not attempt to disguise the scale of the setback, claiming his side were comprehensively beaten at Ibrox despite making a promising start to the contest.
And O’Neill was left particularly frustrated by Celtic’s decision-making in dangerous areas, highlighting a number of attacks that broke down after his players surrendered possession.
“We were well beaten in the end,” O’Neill admitted. “The 3-0 scoreline doesn't hide it, it was a tough afternoon for us. I thought the first half we didn’t capitalise, we had a couple of really decent chances when we’d broken their press. But on the day, just second best. They were stronger than us and deserved to win.
“I think there had to be a realisation of how big this game is. It’s so important to the fans, so important to everybody. It’s still one of the great fixtures, as mentioned, in European football, if not the world.
“And people have got to know that. That’s the point. We’ll have to try and learn from it. We play next Sunday, we’ve got a midweek game. But really we have to. I think, hopefully, it’s a wake-up call. I have to look at myself for a start, then I look at the team.”
O’Neill dismissed any suggestion that Rangers’ approach had caught his players completely by surprise, indicating he had anticipated the tactical setup from his opponents.
“Not necessarily,” the 74-year-old added. “Everything Rangers did I expected them to do. I think you have to be able to deal with it. You deal with any sort of permutation that the opposition put in front of you. That’s their prerogative, to do exactly that.
“I’m not sure it’s always to do with systems. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t. But if you do misplace a lot of passes, when you have comfortable possession, I don’t think that’s got to do with the systems, myself. I think, we did misplace a lot of passes today when we were comfortable and choosing the wrong option when we were on the counter-attack.”
O’Neill insists Celtic can benefit from Ibrox mauling
Attention will now turn towards the next meeting between the two Glasgow giants at Parkhead next week, with Celtic back on home soil. O’Neill believes the atmosphere can provide his team with a vital boost as they look to bounce back from a heavy loss.
He stated: “This is a setback and hopefully a learning curve for us, absolutely. I’m sure it will be. It was a culture shock for me 26 years ago when I came here, we got smashed 5-1. We can learn from this and that's the most important thing. We need to.
“Next Sunday will be a different ball game. I’m looking forward to that, to our crowd making the same sort of noise as the Ibrox crowd made today. That will be very helpful.”
O’Neill addresses team selection
O’Neill also explained some of his team selections, particularly his decision to start with the ineffective Sebastian Tounekti on the left flank in favour of summer signing Haissem Hassan and dropping goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo for the experienced Sam Johnstone between the sticks.
He concluded: “Young Hassan had an overnight problem, and he didn’t get much sleep in all honesty, so it was just a matter or not starting him because of that. That’s the reason, really.
On his decision to select Wolves loanee Johnstone, the Irishman stated: “I want people to experience these games, because what other way am I going to learn about what people can or cannot do? What I don’t want to do is just put people in so that I can learn something from it. The main objective is obviously to try and win, and it’s a fine balancing act for me.”
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