Martin O'Neill warns Celtic new boys that the Premiership is 'hard' as winger lauded in St Mirren comeback
Celtic have been unfazed domestically so far - but for the first time this season there was glove laid on them in Paisley
Celtic boss Martin O’Neill claims he had to remind some of his players of the standard of the Scottish Premiership after their hard fought 2-1 comeback victory over St Mirren.
The Hoops extended their flawless domestic start to their season against the Buddies, but didn’t have things all their own way at the Marbill Coaches Stadium. An early penalty from their striker Nikolas Agrafotis meant for the first time since their title-clinching victory over Hearts - Celtic were behind in the league.
Defender Liam Scales carelessly was responsible for the spot kick after handling the ball in the box but redeemed himself in the second half with a pinpoint front post header. Winger Yang Hyun-jun then grabbed the winner for the Hoops before he jets off to the Asian Games with South Korea. As O’Neill admitted after the match, perhaps for the first time this season domestically, it felt as if the Hoops didn’t have full control of the game, as the hosts squandered some late chances to equalise.
St Mirren test reminds Hoops of ‘hard’ Premiership reality
Midfielder Mika Baur has been strolling it domestically for the Hoops so far since signing from Paderborn last month. O’Neill claims he’s had to remind him and some others that the SPFL Premiership is no picnic, especially in away fixtures. He also warned late-window Chelsea loan addition Shim Mheuka of the strength of the league. The 18-year old though he was off the mark with a late game-clincher but after a VAR check his goal was ruled out for offside.
When asked about Mheuka’s impact, O’Neill responded: “He could be a proper player in time. He could be. I could see him starting, very easily. This is the whole point, we've got a couple of players that deep down you don't really know exactly what they can do. Of course we've studied them, we've got their things and they're coming in.
“But until they're throwing into these games, I was speaking to wee Mika Baur afterwards, I said, 'Mika, these games are hard.' He's played in the Bundesliga second division, he just got into the big league. The games are hard here. Sometimes they don't realise how hard they are. But big Shim looks as if he wants to adjust to it.”
O’Neill jokingly regrets Yang elimination remark
The veteran boss has been a strong admirer of Yang since he rejoined the club last season. After the winger grabbed the winner, O’Neill joked that he hopes Korea get knocked out early so he can come back to Celtic - before realising that winning the tournament would see him avoid a year and a half of national service. Yang is currently set to miss Celtic’s next four games against St Johnstone, Rangers home and away, as well as Ferencvaros in Europe.
O’Neill joked: “We are going to miss him. He's in really fine form at the moment. Really disappointed. I hope they get beaten quickly! No, I don't. I don't. Please, scrub that! He’ll read this and he'll be really disappointed. But no, because if they do, if they don't win the tournament, then he has to do national service. So I hope they do win it. But yeah, he's signed off. Brilliant goal. He’s in great form and he'll work for you going backwards. He doesn't mind doing that hard graft.”
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