Martin O’Neill Admits Celtic Have Structural Problems

Martin O’Neill has admitted Celtic need to improve structurally after their 3-0 defeat to Rangers at Ibrox.

The Hoops struggled badly without the ball and found it difficult to regain control once possession was lost, with Rangers able to play through Celtic too easily at times.

Asked whether the defeat was simply a bad day at the office or whether there were deeper structural concerns, O’Neill initially asked for clarification.

When the question was narrowed to Celtic’s work off the ball and after losing possession, he agreed there was an issue.

He said: (TCW), “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.”

That was one of Celtic’s biggest problems at Ibrox.

Rangers were able to move the ball with far more freedom than O’Neill would have wanted, while Celtic rarely managed to sustain pressure for long enough to force the home side back.

When possession changed hands, the Hoops were often too slow to react and Rangers had space to move forward.

O’Neill would ideally have wanted more time on the training ground to work through those problems before Celtic’s next meeting with Rangers.

He added: “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.”

Celtic do not have that luxury.

They face Ferencváros at Celtic Park in midweek before Rangers make the trip across Glasgow next Sunday.

O’Neill also admitted that too many of his players simply did not perform at the required level at Ibrox.

“But yes, we had players today who were below par, and well below par, and that’s not a great mix.”

The focus now will be on whether Celtic can tighten things up without the ball and regain the control that was missing at Ibrox before the sides meet again.