Martin O’Neill did a decent deflection job as he spoke to Celtic TV about his appointment as manager.
The entire tone was similar to his interviews last season during two stints as interim manager.
O’Neill did admit that he would be tweaking the way that Celtic play. Apparently applying the pace and power of his 2000-2005 side to the more possession based style of recent season.
Many fans would describe much of last season as the Horseshoe of Death. Possession for the sake of it.
That is what happens when Jota gets injured, Nicolas Kuhn is sold and Daizen Maeda is converted to a striker. Because the CEO decided to sell Kyogo Furuhashi and Adam Idah with Shin Yamada brought in to replace the departed scorers.
Celtic is basically a team without wingers. James Forrest delivers priceless cameo performances, Yang Hyun-jun is effective one game in six.
O’Neill is looking to implement his new style of play over four pre-season friendlies and training sessions.
On Friday he had three players from the Scottish Cup winning team to work with. Arne Engels, Callum McGregor and Forrest.
Vil Sinisalo and Liam Scales should be back within the next 10 days. World Cup players towards the end of July, to start pre-season training.
How do you implement a new style of play on three or five players? The others training on Friday were cast aside last season by O’Neill.
O’NEILL REQUIRES ANOTHER 2021 SIZED REBUILD- NOT AUGMENTING
Celtic require a huge rebuild. At least the same size as the one faced by Ange Postecoglou in 2021.
Postecoglou signed Liel Abada, Kyogo, Carl Starfelt, Joe Hart, Josip Juranovic, Jota, Carter-Vickers and Georgis Giakoumakis in the summer.
Eight starters. Followed by four players in January, three were instant starters. Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Yosuke Ideguchi were announced on December 31. Matt O’Riley arrived a few weeks later.
According to O’Neill Celtic will ‘try and get a couple of players in to augment the squad’.
He is a master of the understatement but Celtic require more than a couple.
And they won’t be augmenting the squad.
What is left of the squad will be getting stripped bear by Michael Nicholson.
Selling Maeda and Engels are the transfer priorities of the CEO. Nicholson’s nerve dropped in January when Nottingham Forest offered £25m for Engels. He won’t do that again.
Celtic are nine days away from their first friendly.
Five weeks away from the SPFL opener at home to Dundee. Five weeks on winning the Scottish Cup no signings have been made.
O’Neill found out about Celtic’s recruitment in January. He had no time or places for Tomas Cvancara, Junior Adamu or Joel Mvuka.
If he thinks that a couple to augment his depleted squad will do the trick he is in for a shock.
And sitting with £100m in the bank account won’t win any matches or earn the club 12 points in the Champions League.
A forceful manager got his way with signings in the summer of 2024.
Nicholson got his way with the forceful manager in October 2025.
SCOTTISH CUP WINNING TEAM:
Sinisalo; Johnston, Trusty, Scales, Tierney; McGregor, Engels, Nygren; Forrest, Maeda, Yang
SUBS: Saracchi, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Iheanacho, Tounekti
We all know the script , Desmond and his malignant cabal of corporate greed and austerity fc will sell engels maeda thats for certain we can only hope it stops there , but it won’t, so the season ticket holders have given carte blanch to the asset strippers ,now the true supporters must stop giving them your money or you are complicit in the destruction of our club
MON is not capable of a massive rebuild he is too compromised with his relationship with DD …
I think MON is just a desmond yes man,a decent manager but totally beholden to desmond.
I’m not even gonna try to express my anger at what’s happening,even after O’neill saved the board’s bacon last season they still carry on with their fucked up thinking.
Joe,I think you are being unfair on Yang as I think he surprised a lot of people with his displays last season……….and he didn’t cost £5m bangers either !!!
Editor: Yang has completed three seasons at Celtic. More than Jota I and Abada. He wouldn’t have got near the bench under Ange when he had Forrest & Abada on the right and Maeda & Jota on the left. Subs on after 60 minutes, no dip in quality.
I agree with you BHB. Yang came on to some very good displays when he sensed he was valued. I believe he is important for us to keep. However, I really am sick of the club at the moment and I wonder if there is a deliberate sabotage going on now. The Desmond pair have over-stepped and have shown their absolute disdain for ordinary people. Money is their god.
Why would they give him a few hundred grand when he’s only here for a year (their desperation and his faithfulness to Celtic is that combination)…
And why did he take the job knowing the way the old grey scumbags operate…
This is all gonna end in fu**in tears for Martin I’m afraid !
Correct clach,I can’t believe Martin accepted this but he’s big mates with desmond the despot and will do whatever he’s told.
Just 2 more days until the start of the new financial (accounting) year for the bean counters and those who keep the old biscuit tin welded shut to show us that they really do want continued success and rude health for Celtic FC and start doing their jobs… administer ?
Players returning from the World Cup at greater risk of injuries throughout the season because of lack of end of last season recuperation time due to the pre WC prep for their countries competing there and so having a proper sized pool of players to compete with has to be one of the priorities for the board …surely ?
If I can see this ..why can’t the professionals of the Celtic board ? And by the way I am an amateur with a capital ‘A’ in the background …observing in all of it ! Just watch those guys picked for and playing in the World Cup and the amount of injuries they pick up throughout next season ? Just watch as they suffer !
You’d think after the season we’ve just had, the Board would get its act together?
But no.
The shambolic manner around signing MON and then the coaches,
and the lack of new players, lack of engagement with the support, etc.
shows it’s actually getting worse?
The Board has Nicholson and McKay as the executive directors.
The 4 non-execs include Wilson, DD and Sharon Brown and Brian Rose.
Nobody has resigned over the last year, so collectively and individually,
they must think that Celtic plc is being managed in an appropriate,
professional and optimal manner?
Another reminder that the Board looks stifled by groupthink,
is unfit for purpose – and they all have to go…?
(edit)
Lawwell did resign in December,
but that was not in protest about the shambolic club operations,
but supposedly it was in protest against the support!
Let’s hope the rest of them ‘protest’ asap.
Of course, we could offer them some ‘encouragement!