Celtic's Martin O'Neill Promises Response After Derby Defeat

Martin O'Neill has drawn a hard line under Celtic’s bruising Old Firm defeat, insisting his side will respond quickly and decisively after Sunday’s 3-0 collapse against Rangers at Ibrox.

The Scottish champions were heavily criticised for a flat, timid display in the League Cup loss, a performance that has darkened the mood around Parkhead ahead of a crucial week. Celtic open their Europa League campaign at home to Hungarian side Ferencvaros on Thursday, before an immediate league rematch with Rangers at Celtic Park on Sunday.

“Every game that Celtic lose, there's a crisis, and of course even bigger if you lose to Rangers, so we've done enough talking about it,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Wednesday.

The message was blunt. No more autopsies. No more excuses.

“Our players are disappointed with the performance, we could have done better, I think we accept that, and we just apply ourselves now again for the league fixtures.”

O'Neill, now in his second full-time spell in charge, did not hide from the scale of Sunday’s failure or its impact on supporters.

“We were disappointed ourselves, we disappointed the fans and now we just have to rise to the occasion,” the 74-year-old said. “We've got two matches in which to do so before the break. Two big games for us, Ferencvaros will not be easy, but we've done it before, we'll get ourselves right.”

Ferencvaros arrive as awkward opponents, but the real weight hangs over that second game. Rangers again. Same city, different venue, and a Celtic support demanding a reaction.

For several of O'Neill’s players, Sunday was their first taste of the Old Firm’s unique intensity. Five members of his starting XI were debutants in the derby cauldron, and the manager admitted the experience hit some of them hard.

“I think it was an eye opener to some of the newer lads,” he said. “We've got to find out about players, about whether they're capable of dealing with these games. Hopefully, over the course of time, they will be.”

The next few days will give him his first real answers.