Martin O’Neill’s post-match Celtic press conference after the Stuttgart defeat raised a number of issues as the Hoops boss analysed the result.
The Europa League result effectively ends Celtic’s campaign even though there is still a full 90 minutes to play over in Stuttgart.
But as Martin O’Neill gave his thoughts on the Celtic result, there were three things the Parkhead boss got completely wrong and they all need to be addressed.
Martin O’Neill was wrong to hit out at Celtic fan protest
O’Neill said that Celtic fans who orchestrated and took part in the tennis ball protests ‘needed their heads read’ after they disrupted the start of the game.
After seeing the protests at Celtic Park, did you agree with them?
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Let’s not forget, this protest was against a Celtic board who have made so many errors that they had to call O’Neill to get him to come back not once, but twice, after Brendan Rodgers had enough of their shenanigans and completely messed up the appointment of Wilfried Nancy.
This is a board who, through lack of investment, left O’Neill with a squad who have been schooled by Hearts twice, Rangers, Motherwell and Dundee United and who also have now been soundly beaten by Stuttgart who all but walked four goals in the net at Celtic Park.
And let’s not speak about the Celtic fan ban that seems to have no end in sight because fans have a CEO who refuses to speak unless he’s got a chance to deliver a good soundbite for an LMA Award or to criticise supporters at any given opportunity.
O’Neill’s ‘Celtic have no money’ excuse for European failure simply does not wash
O’Neill also, for the second time this season, repeated his view that Celtic cannot compete at the highest level in Europe because of money.
That is simply not going to wash with Celtic supporters. First off, let’s take a look at the Champions League.
Bodo/Glimt are coping just fine on a fraction of Celtic’s budget and just beat Inter Milan 3-1 in the play-off places during a winter shut down.
The Norwegians are a progressive club with a plan and it’s clearly working. Closer to home in the Europa League, FC Midtjylland, SC Braga and Genk are all competing and doing very well in a second-tier competition Celtic struggled in.
And making these comments while Celtic are sitting on almost £70m in the bank and spending hardly a penny in the January transfer window particularly doesn’t sit well.
Celtic will not become a ‘top-quality European team’
Lastly, O’Neill claims that Celtic will become a ‘top quality European team’ in the future. What is he basing that on?
The future proof recruitment policy that has served Celtic so well over the last four or five transfer windows?
The scouting team who, twelve months after Kyogo left, still can’t find a striker to replace the Japan international?
Or is O’Neill basing this on a board who have found it so hard to find a manager they have had to call on Brendan Rodgers twice and, of course, the current interim manager the same number of times in the same season.
O’Neill’s anger was justified after watching Celtic get schooled by Stuttgart, it’s just a pity it was aimed at the wrong people.
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