Martin O’Neill admitted Celtic cannot keep relying on second-half recoveries after another slow start nearly cost them at Ibrox. Speaking at his Tuesday press conference, the Irishman reflected on the pattern that has appeared too often during the season.
The team has often needed time to settle. Opponents have started quickly while Celtic have taken longer to control the tempo. At Ibrox, Rangers pressed hard early and Celtic struggled to deal with it.
O’Neill accepted the criticism. He admitted the performance before half-time was nowhere near the level required and warned that another start like that would be punished in the next match.
He said: (TCW), “I’m just trying to address that – we should be starting the game better.
“If you’re saying to me in terms of a totally inconsistent season, in that sense, in terms of results, you’d have to say that’s the case.
“But to me, since I’ve come in both spells, I’ve found the games really demanding. I’ve never felt as if any game has ever been won.
“We’ve won some late games. We conceded a late goal against Hibs as well, too. So, some people might think it’s swings and roundabouts. But overall, yeah, I’ll take your point entirely. We’ve got to start better.
“I don’t think that we could go, for instance, 45 minutes and play in the manner which we did and expect to get a result tomorrow night. We couldn’t do it. We just couldn’t.
“We were really pretty poor. But in that aspect, we were as terrific in the second half as we were poor in the first.”
The contrast between halves has become a theme. Celtic often look stronger once the game settles and midfield control improves.
That shift was clear at Ibrox. Once Celtic began to win second balls and move the ball quicker, Rangers were pushed back.
The message to the players is simple. Start the match properly. If they combine that urgency with the level shown in the second half of the derby, the result usually takes care of itself.
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