Celtic were beaten 3-0 by Rangers at Ibrox in the Old Firm derby as Martin O’Neill was left to reflect on a damaging defeat that exposed clear weaknesses in his side
Martin O’Neill disclosed that Haissem Hassan was absent from his Premier Sports Cup starting XI because he failed to get any sleep before the Ibrox clash.
However, it’s the Celtic manager who may now be facing restless nights ahead. This performance was the kind of nightmare that will leave the Northern Irishman troubled for quite some time.
O’Neill has witnessed plenty of Old Firm encounters to recognise when there’s simply an off day or when matches are decided by flashes of brilliance or individual moments. Yet this comprehensive 3-0 defeat in Govan wasn’t down to unfortunate circumstances.
Instead, it laid bare the vulnerabilities that Celtic supporters were already conscious of and worried could be exploited during the intense battle of a derby.
That’s why minor adjustments might not suffice in the days ahead, with another clash against Rangers looming on Sunday and a Europa League fixture against Ferencvaros sandwiched in between, reports the Daily Record.
Hassan ought to be fully refreshed by then, but Celtic could have benefited from his presence during a dismal first-half display at Ibrox before he was introduced after the interval.
O’Neill explained: “He had an overnight problem, and he didn’t get much sleep in all honesty, so it was just a matter of not starting him because of that. That’s the reason, really.”
Hassan represented just one concern on Glasgow’s South Side amongst numerous others. Celtic’s fragile midfield was overwhelmed, with Mika Baur consumed by the derby debut whirlwind while Benjamin Nygren was effectively nullified by James Penrice’s man-marking.
That left Callum McGregor in the King Cnut position, desperately attempting to stem the flow. Similar to the harsh Champions League qualifier in Austria, the obvious absence of midfield strength was exposed once more.
Rangers dominated proceedings, though the alarm bells had been ringing for Celtic for some time.
Clear issues emerged during the capitulation against LASK, yet even teams such as St Mirren, St Johnstone, Dundee United and Kilmarnock found space to fashion numerous opportunities against O’Neill’s side.
When it was suggested to the manager that Celtic’s defensive organisation has been questionable, and they surrender the ball too readily under pressure, O’Neill responded: “Yes, I absolutely agree with you. I think we can do much, much better than that. I think we can get the ball back a bit more quickly than we certainly did today, and start getting back to dominating. So we’ll see what next Sunday brings.
“In normal circumstances, I wouldn’t mind just a full week to look at a few things and maybe work on a couple of things.
“But yes, we had players today who were below par, and well below par, and that’s not a great mix.”
Derek McInnes surprised many with his three-at-the-back system and Penrice operating as an additional midfielder.
By the time Celtic recognised the formation and adjusted their approach, the match was already slipping beyond their grasp. O’Neill expressed no shock at Rangers’ tactical setup or work rate.
He commented: “I think you have to be able to deal with it. You deal with any sort of permutation that the opposition put in front of you. That’s their prerogative, to do exactly that. I’m not so sure it’s always to do with systems. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t.
“But if you do misplace a lot of passes, when you have comfortable possession, I don’t think that’s got to do with the systems, myself.
“I think we did misplace a lot of passes today when we were comfortable and choosing the wrong option when we were on the counter-attack.”
O’Neill withdrew Sebastian Tounekti at half-time, though several others might have been candidates for an early exit.
However, O’Neill has consistently been a manager prepared to protect his squad and absorb criticism himself.
He adopted that approach once more in the depths of Ibrox, and was particularly eager to support one of his younger squad members.
O’Neill stated: “I think young Colby Donovan has come out of this with great credit. I think he’s an absolute warrior.
“Sometimes we misplace passes, but he’s got a big heart. I think we can all learn from that. And because of the size of his heart, he was booked in the first half, but he kept going right to the end.
“He was booked against St Mirren after about eight or nine minutes, still kept going. In terms of heart and desire, he’s been a big plus for us.”
As for the others?
Praise was in shorter supply than accurate passes. Goalkeeper Sam Johnstone endured a difficult first appearance, while high-profile summer acquisitions Kasper Hogh, Camilo Duran and Baur struggled to warrant their substantial transfer fees, and several deadline day additions only featured when the match was already beyond reach.
It proved to be a stern education for certain players.
O’Neill explained: “I want people to experience these games, because what other way am I going to learn about what people can or cannot do? What I don’t want to do is just put people in so that I can learn something from it.
“The main object is obviously to try and win, and it’s a fine balancing act from me. A lot of boys, Kieran Tierney and Callum, people like this here, and James Forrest, they’ve all won here when there’s been big crowds. And I think they’ve won.
“They’ve played here before, so I don’t know. But certainly for some of the younger and newer lads, it’s an experience that I don’t think they’ll forget.”
The manager won’t be forgetting it either.
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