Martin O’Neill’s Honest Celtic Admission After 1-0 St Johnstone Win Leaves Worrying Aftertaste

Martin O’Neill’s frank assessment of Celtic’s win over St Johnstone pointed to his frustration over a lack of cutting edge from his forward players.

The Hoops boss was clearly irked at full-time as he spoke to Sky Sports in the aftermath of his side’s narrow 1-0 win over the Saints at McDiarmid Park. Mika Baur, the midfielder, was the man to find the back of the net with the only goal of the game in the second-half.

And only a dodgy decision from the assistant referee prevented Celtic from going 2-0 in front after the linesman adjudged a Sebastian Tounekti cross to have gone out of play before it was nodded down by Kasper Hogh and finished off by Haissem Hassan.

Celts had plenty of chances to add to their tally but they found home goalkeeper Toby Steward in fine form. Their strikers were also largely wasteful, however, and that was the suggestion made by O’Neill as he demanded they improve and start showing why they were brought to the club in the first place.

“What pleased me most? D’you know what, I’m not sure. I’m not even sure what to make of the game,” he told Sky Sports.

“I think we made goal scoring, which is very difficult, almost impossible. We could have scored a number of goals which we didn’t do and it was kind of crazy, really.

“I thought somebody would maybe take responsibility and put it in the net. Pass, pass, pass. Anyway, we’ve won the game which is the most important thing and I’m really pleased.

“We could have scored a number of goals but St Johnstone were never out of the game and we couldn’t put it beyond them.”

O’Neill’s honesty was certainly understood and his frustration was shared among the support in the aftermath of the action.

🗣️ “We made it almost impossible”
😆 “I said to the boys, ‘I’m 74, I think I could’ve scored a goal tonight at some stage’”

Martin O’Neill says Celtic are “still well short” as he assesses their 1-0 win at St Johnstone ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/rwHmDfaOpc

— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) September 9, 2026

Kasper Hogh looked good in terms of his build-up play but the Danish striker needs a goal to really kickstart some momentum having previously netted a hattrick this campaign against Kilmarnock.

The manager admitted at full-time that Celtic rely on Camilo Duran who has started the season on fire with six goals and three assists in just nine fixtures thus far.

The Colombian has been excellent but his omission at McDiarmid Park was certainly felt.