‘I’m not so sure I learned much’ – O’Neill knows what Celtic need after cup win

After a frustrating Scottish Cup defeat to sixth-tier Auchinleck Talbot, Celtic manager Martin O’Neill admitted he had not learned a lot about his team.

Only Callum McGregor, a captain, was allowed to take his place in O’Neill’s squad’s win over Falkirk on Wednesday, when the rest of the team had opportunities to use him.

After being called out from his loan at Motherwell, Stephen Welsh made his first Celtic appearance since December 2024, Johnny Kenny was brought in first, and winger Michel-Ange Balikwisha was taken out of the cold.

O’Neill has been sincere about how important it is to strengthen in the January window, but Parkhead hasn’t welcomed any newcomers until about halfway through.

The opening goal was scored by substitute Sebastian Tounekti from close range, and Kenny missed a lot of chances before firing home with a magnificent second just in time.

Fans chanted “sign a player” at Rugby Park after being ignored by the pitch’s fare.

It would have been nice to put on a fantastic performance tonight, O’Neill said. I had a lot of fun with the game, but that’s how I’ve spent the past 30 years.

O’Neill was questioned again about the club’s intentions after making such a laborious tie with part-time players.

Before he made fun of it, he said, “I do dread this question,” adding that we are making some progress and that we should be able to recruit players before the season is over.

O’Neill, who had originally been parachuted into Parkhead following Brendan Rodgers’ agonizing departure in October, maintained his perfect domestic performance this season.

After Wilfried Nancy’s grueling 33-day rule, the 73-year-old was given another chance to watch players he had previously used and the he took advantage of Auchinleck’s refusal to do so.

” We made 10 changes, “O’Neill said”. In the first half, I had no access to a few of the young people who were playing tonight. Balikwisha, Paulo, Bernardo, [Michel-Ange]

“It was a matter of examining their potential.” We’ve got a good idea of what to do [in the window], and I want to get started.

Former Celtic defender Jackie McNamara said, “Most teams that play against Celtic are comfortable leaving them with possession as long as they don’t play through the lines.”

Because they don’t have a target man in the middle to win those headers, they force them wide and say, “We’ll deal with it.”

You can see with Kenny that it’s not his game, but they would score many more goals. He’s a second striker, not a nine-a-sider.

Some of Celtic’s starters also disapproved of Ryan Stevenson, who was a former Hearts striker.

He said, “Martin will have a lot of knowledge about players who are at the fringes today.”

He and his backroom staff will meet, and they will say, “He didn’t take advantage of it,” “I don’t think he did well enough,” or “He did well enough.”

Luke McCowan and James Forrest both had good work, according to McCowan, but there are too many people who kind of “went through the motions.”

Before crucial European matches against Bologna and Utrecht, either side of a Scottish Premiership visit to Hearts, Kenny himself hopes his goal will help improve his form.

You need to be prepared when something happens, he said, “that’s the life of a striker.” “These past few weeks have been difficult. Every striker misses chances, so I’m hoping to get a run.