Celtic manager Martin O'Neill has told his new signings that Saturday's chastening 3-0 Old Firm defeat to Rangers should serve as a major wake-up call. Celtic were beaten by their bitter rivals at Ibrox in the quarter-finals of the Premier Sports Cup.
O'Neill picked a starting line-up featuring four new signings, goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, Kasper Hogh, Camilo Duran and Mika Baur. Three more summer arrivals were introduced from the bench in the second half, but Celtic could not cope with Rangers' energy and aggression.
Rangers, managed by Derek McInnes, won thanks to two goals from Dan Neil and one from Kevin Kelsy, in what proved a torrid afternoon for the visitors.
"We were well beaten," said O'Neill. "The 3-0 scoreline doesn't hide it, it was a tough afternoon for us. We were well in the game early on, even at half time, but they were stronger than us on the day and they deserved to win."
"I thought the first half we didn't capitalise, we had a couple of really decent chances when we'd broken their press. But on the day, just second best."
Old Firm magnitude
The Old Firm derby between Celtic and Rangers, two of Scottish football's most successful and fiercely supported clubs based in Glasgow, is widely regarded as one of football's great rivalries. O'Neill said the result showed his squad, several of whom joined this summer, needed to grasp what the fixture means.
"I think there has to be a realisation of how big this game is. It's so important to the fans, so important to everybody," he said. "It's still one of the great fixtures, as mentioned, in European football, if not the world. And people have got to know that. That's the point. We'll have to try and learn from it."
Celtic face Rangers again at Celtic Park next Sunday in the league, with a midweek fixture also to come before then.
A culture shock for new faces
Asked whether the defeat would have been a culture shock for some of his new players, O'Neill drew on his own experience of joining Celtic.
"I'm sure it will be. It was a culture shock for me 26 years ago when I came here, we got smashed 5-1," he said. "Listen, we were second best. I have to look at myself for a start, then I look at the team. We were second best."
"You can go on, you can win some games, which we've been doing domestically and it's been fine. We've found a way to win a couple of matches which were difficult for us. But we were beaten today."
He added that Rangers had not caught him off guard. "Did Rangers surprise me? No. I think they're strong. I think they're physically strong. So it'll be a big test for us next Sunday again, in every aspect."
No away fans, but a different atmosphere expected
No away fans have been permitted at any Old Firm fixture this season, and O'Neill believes that will make next Sunday's meeting at Celtic Park, known to supporters as Parkhead, feel very different.
"I think throughout the first half we, in really good positions, gave the ball away, we had three or four brilliant opportunities on the counter-attack and wasted them," he said. "Everything Rangers did, I expected them to do. Whatever way Rangers set up, they're not going to give me a call and say what they're going to do, so we had to counter that."
"Next Sunday will be a different ball game when we've got the home crowd with us, and if they make the same sort of noise as Rangers made today that will be very helpful. We can learn from this and that's the most important thing. We need to."
O'Neill said the absence of away supporters was not solely to blame for his team's performance, pointing to the experience within his squad of players such as Callum McGregor and Kieran Tierney. "If you've been beaten in the game, you always think about selection. I will think about my own part in proceedings and then we'll see. I wanted people to experience this atmosphere and they certainly did."
Praise for Colby Donovan
Despite the heavy defeat, O'Neill singled out Colby Donovan as one of the few Celtic players to emerge with credit. Asked whether he had considered making more than one substitution at half-time, O'Neill replied: "Yeah, it could have changed. Me personally, I think young Colby has come out of this with great credit. I think he's an absolute warrior."
"Sometimes we misplace passes, but he's got a big heart. I think we can all learn from that. And because of the size of his heart, he was booked in the first half, but he kept going right to the end."
"He was booked against St Mirren after about eight or nine minutes, still kept going. In terms of heart and desire, he's been a big plus for us."
