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Martin O’Neill’s involvement in celebrated European moments in Celtic’s history means he is entitled to bridle at the belief that domain is no longer a priority. O’Neill used pre-match media duties for the Europa League visit of Utrecht on Thursday to point towards what has the potential to be an uplifting few days for the Scottish champions.
“We got a result in Feyenoord and fought our guts out in Bologna,” he said. “We don’t now want to just throw it away. We want to try and go for it if we can. We could still lose the game. We might not win the match and we might go out of the competition, but we want to give it a go.
“If we can survive and win Sunday’s game [against Falkirk] and maybe by Monday we get some players in then that might give us a bit of relief. But we first need to qualify. It could give us renewed enthusiasm.”
It will be a shock and a significant blow to Celtic’s credibility if they do not progress to the Europa League knockout stages. Utrecht have taken one point from seven games and lie 11th in the Eredivisie. Ifs, buts and maybes are, however, the story of Celtic’s messy campaign.
It is the case that the club have spent more on a failed appeal of Auston Trusty’s red card at Tynecastle on Sunday, £650, than on permanent January signings. Julián Araujo and Tomas Cvancara have arrived on loan. Yet there are emotions ranging from anxiety to anger among supporters, who fear another window where Celtic are ponderous. This one will have consequences given Hearts and Rangers are mounting a credible challenge for the title. Hearts outplayed Celtic for most of the 2-2 draw.
O’Neill will not panic. His rational approach over the lack of activity is sensible given he is in a second interim spell. Brendan Rodgers and Wilfried Nancy have departed office either side of the 73-year-old’s stints. “I’m sure Wilfried would have had a set of players that he was interested in,” O’Neill said.
“That might be a different set of players to me and it might have been a different set of players to Brendan. I came in on 5 January and you try to get to work immediately on players.
“There’s a fairly decent chance I won’t be here next year. So from that viewpoint I really don’t want to thrust somebody on [the club] that [a new manager] might not like. What I’m trying to do is put a player into this club that can do something for us now, that the new manager, whatever sort of ideas he has, will also really like.”
This big picture-thinking is admirable. So, too, is O’Neill’s refusal to join criticism of an under-siege board of directors. It is undeniable Celtic need root-and-branch reform; still, O’Neill is adamant he has overlords who will back his transfer wishes between now and Monday evening. “Who is to say we might not spend money? There is a willingness. There is not a division [between manager and board].
“You have a set of players, an A list and a B list. You don’t want to be going down to your F list. Some things I have thought looked great and then, 25 minutes later, something changes, like a price or someone else coming in.”
A first European tie for O’Neill at Celtic Park since 2004 will divert attention. A 0-0 draw with Milan was the outcome that night. Weeks earlier, Celtic had left the Camp Nou with a Champions League point. More than two decades on, the noisy backdrop has not altered O’Neill’s aspirations on the European stage.
“I don’t care who is going to manage this club, that’s what you aim for,” he said. “It’s what the club is there for. It will be the same for the club across the road. That is what the two clubs are built on so you’ve got to go for it.
“We’re a good distance away from that at this minute. But that’s what you should be aiming for. Why not? Whether we are good enough to compete in this competition, that’s in the lap of the gods. But that’s where the club should be aiming for.
“Those Champions League nights were really special, they were fantastic. It does help when you have some half decent players helping you. Players who never feared anybody playing at Celtic Park, ever.”
It may be an affront to Neil Lennon, John Hartson, Chris Sutton, Alan Thompson and Stiliyan Petrov to put them on a par with the class of 2026. That will not stop O’Neill trying. The years have not remotely diminished his ambition.
