Martin O’Neill has admitted Celtic’s players “probably didn’t deserve” the reception they received from supporters after the disastrous Champions League collapse against LASK.
It had been a week to forget for the Hoops, with Celtic suffering one of the most embarrassing European results in the club’s history.
The Scottish champions travelled to Linz with a 3-0 first-leg advantage and then extended their lead to four goals on the night.
Yet somehow, LASK fought back to win 5-1 after extra time and send Celtic out of Champions League qualifying.
The Hoops were left embarrassed and humiliated as they made the journey home with Europa League football instead of the Champions League place they had been targeting.
Few could have predicted what unfolded in Austria. Responsibility has to be shared across the club, from the players and management to the Celtic board.
O’Neill, however, was taken aback by the response from the Celtic support when the players returned to Parkhead for Saturday’s Premiership clash with Falkirk.
Despite the midweek disaster, supporters gathered to welcome the team bus into Celtic Park before the 3pm kick-off.
Rather than hostility, the players were cheered off the bus.
And O’Neill admitted the reaction came as a surprise.
“As we got off the bus, the crowd actually cheered us, which was unexpected and something that we probably didn’t deserve,” the Celtic boss said to RecordSport.
“So, yeah, I was really pleased.”
The Celtic players went on to respond on the pitch, securing a 2-1 victory over Falkirk to keep their domestic campaign back on track.
It does little to erase the pain of the LASK collapse, but the reaction from the supporters showed O’Neill and his players that the fan base is still behind him, despite the collapse.
Celtic now have the remainder of the transfer window to strengthen the squad before turning their attention to the Europa League.
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