Martin O’Neill will assess as his future as Celtic manager comes under further scrutiny following the 1-0 defeat by Rangers at Parkhead.
of The Light Blues cruised to a 3-0 League Cup win over the Hoops at Ibrox last Sunday and, in the second leg of the Scottish Premiership, a first-half strike from Ryan Naderi took Derek McInnes’ side to within two points of the Hoops at the top of the table going into the international break.
In his second spell as permanent manager after two stints as interim manager last season, O’Neill was under increasing pressure going into the game behind 3-1 defeat to Ferencvaros at Parkhead on Thursday night.
After another poor performance, the 74-year-old spoke of entering a period of self-reflection.
“I’ll honestly reflect and see,” said the Northern Irishman. “It’s a question of whether I can help the team. The manager is supposed to be able to do that. I will look at that this week.
“I think any time something comes up and things don’t go so well, age plays a role. And, you know what, they might be right. I’ll be 110 in two years, so it might be time to end it.
“I’ll reflect on the games and talk to the board. You never know, they might want to talk to me. I’ll try to get a few days off and see how it goes.”
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O’Neill thought the last Old Firm defeat was a close one, but he was shut down by former striker Chris Sutton, who was left disappointed by the loss.
Asked what would happen if he reflected, then decided he couldn’t improve the team, O’Neill replied: “Until then, I promise, I’ll let you know.
“I don’t know. I’ll look into it.”
O’Neill addressed the growing negativity within the Hoops support, saying: “Well, I think they’re absolutely right.
“I mentioned this to you on Friday, rightly so of course.
“And I’m not immune to criticism. Far from it. Absolutely and completely away from it.
“I think there’s every reason to ask, ‘can you turn this around? Can you change it all?’
“We are, as I said, two points clear, so I have to look at the bigger picture at the moment.
“But I knew we were in for a big fight anyway, with ourselves, Rangers and again Hearts, who are not far from anything.
“It’s a long season ahead. It’s not the first time I’ve been asked about my time as a coach. So yeah, I’ll look at it. I’ll reflect and see.”
“Celtic have big problems”
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Kris Boyd and Neil Lennon on Celtic’s dismal performance against Rangers
ex Celtic manager Neil Lennon on Sky Sports:
“He (Martin O’Neill) has changed the formation, made four changes in midweek. He is trying to find a recipe to get some fluidity.
“Rangers were the far superior team, not only in physical attributes and driving power, but also in football.
“They played all the football. Celtic were much better than in the first half, without being brilliant.
“But the second half, completely disjointed, completely worn out. Idle, which is the worst thing you can label a team. Really disjointed, beaten, really beaten.
“All the best players were in blue today. Celtic have a lot to think about and a lot to work on.
“They have an international break, which is probably coming at a good time for them. I know a lot of them might be away playing for their countries, but there needs to be a total reset because the last three performances in the space of a week have been very poor.”
Sky Sports’ Chris Sutton:
“Knowing Martin, he’s going to be very worried. I hate to disagree with him, but it wasn’t a close game. There was a big difference between the teams.
“I can’t remember a Celtic team doing that at Celtic Park from a Rangers team, which happened today.
“It looked like Celtic were getting the better of them, while Rangers were better in every department.
“Celtic have big problems. They were smashed by Rangers and that’s a concern.”