Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel wasn’t giving too much away when he was quizzed about the changes at the club since Brendan Rodgers resigned.
Rodgers left Celtic in a shock move that saw the Northern Irishman hand in his resignation after a defeat to Hearts in the Scottish Premiership.
That saw Celtic move quickly to bring in Martin O’Neill and, as fans will testify, there has been an instantaneous reaction from the players.
Celtic look more confident, direct, and powerful as they easily beat Falkirk and dispatched Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup.
And ahead of Celtic’s trip to FC Midtjylland, experienced Hoops goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was asked why there has been a noticeable mood lift at the club since Rodgers walked away less than two weeks ago.
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Kasper Schmeichel shares what Martin O’Neill has done that’s ‘helped massively’ at Celtic
Schmeichel was taking in pre-match press conference duties ahead of the Europa League tie when he was asked about what’s changed at Celtic since Rodgers left and Martin O’Neill’s arrival.
Schmeichel told Celtic TV, “I think, like the gaffer said, a lot of things are a lot easier when you get the confidence of winning games, you know.
“And one of the first things the boss said was to remind us that we are a very good team. And I think that was one of the big probably issues with us was, was we were lacking a bit of confidence.
“Because we were creating chances, we just weren’t really sticking them away. And even the other day we probably shouldn’t have gone to extra time. We had enough chances within the game to finish it in normal time.
“But yeah, that confidence always helps massively. And when you’ve got very good players, like we do then that’s how you transform those near misses into wins.”
Kasper Schmeichel gets cagey about what’s ‘talked about behind the scenes’ at Celtic
So it seems that O’Neill’s messaging to the players has played a big part in how the performances have improved but when asked what specifically has changed either on the training pitch or otherwise, Schmeichel told the press room that is something he will ‘keep to himself’.
Schmeichel continued, “I can’t really give you too much more information. That would be giving too much away.
“I think, obviously there are things I’ve talked about behind the scenes which we will keep to ourselves, but, yeah, like I say, I think we were a group who had an incredibly good season last season.
“When you think about what was in March, when we almost beat Bayern Munich away. You know, that doesn’t just happen overnight.
“It’s a confidence thing, and getting people to believe in themselves again, that I think that’s one of the key things, but there’s other stuff and that’s something we’ll keep to ourselves.”
In true Martin O’Neill style, the Celtic legend has waved his magic wand and galvanised the supporters and the team.
Hopefully, that magic will spread to Denmark to get Celtic a positive result in the Europa League tonight.
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