adminCeltic manager spoke to the mainstream media this afternoon ahead of the trip to Perth to face St Johnstone tomorrow evening. Here’s everything that was said…
Q: Martin, how’s the squad looking heading into tomorrow?
Martin O’Neill: “Well, we’ve got Kasper Hogh back the last couple of days, Kieran Tierney did a little bit of work with us this morning first time back, so we’ll have a look to see how they are. We’ve got a couple of other fitness issues for players, but we’ll try and go as strong as we possibly can.
Q: Are you hopeful that Kasper and Kieran could play some part tomorrow night?
Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, obviously Kasper’s had the extra day, we’ll see how they are tomorrow night.”
Q: With Hyun-jun Yang obviously away to the Asian Games, Camilo Duran’s been really good through the middle. How do you see that jigsaw working with Kasper coming back in and does that see Camilo drift back out wide?
Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, I’m pleased to have it at the moment. We’ll see how we’re fixed obviously at some stage or another. Whatever we do, if everybody is absolutely fit, then it’s a matter of trying to get your best players on the field.”
Q: What sort of challenge are you expecting from St Johnstone tomorrow night? I think it’s been a good while since you’ve faced a St Johnstone side.
Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, it is. Years rather than days. I saw them opening day of the season, thought they played very well against Kilmarnock and watched the game against Hibs as well too. Good, really, really, really talented. The young manager’s doing well. Just on that point, it’s nice to see them. They want to play football as well and they’re committed.
There’s a vitality about them which is very, very encouraging. Not dissimilar in many aspects to what Craig McLeish is doing at St Mirren. Really good job. It’s nice to see young managers like that there. Courage of their convictions, going to go and play, want to do it and almost fearlessly at it, which is great.
Q: You’ll have had a chance now to look back on Saturday’s game. There was a bit of confusion or controversy when it came to the final goal. Obviously the VAR wasn’t able to draw the lines. Is that quite frustrating when the technology is there and you think you’ve had a goal and it’s not working in that instance and the referee has to go to the screen?
Martin O’Neill: “Would you clear it up for me? Did the referee go to the screen to see what VAR should have done in the first place?
Q: They couldn’t draw the lines just based on where the defender was and where Shim Mheuka was. I think he was essentially blocking where the defender was. They couldn’t draw the line so the referee was told to go to the screen to then basically determine with his eye whether the striker was offside or not.
Martin O’Neill: “Oh I see, with his eye. Yeah, because they couldn’t draw the lines. Rather than the lines, yeah. And he obviously determined that. I didn’t agree with him but I didn’t see the lines. Yeah, I think it’s frustrating in that sense that you think in this particular day and age that you could get lines drawn properly but I think it’s been a bit of a problem here for a while. And you know what, some days it’ll work in our favour so I shouldn’t complain. I’m not complaining because we won!”
Q: In terms of the squad as well, with Kasper coming back and Shim has made a big impact in the spot in the short time he’s been on attack as well. Is that something as well to think about in terms of the formation?
Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, I expect decent things of Shim, I expect him to do well. He’s just getting to know the players, he’s getting to know what’s expected of him in terms of style of play of us, what we do with the ball, what we do without it. It’s essentially what he does with the ball that will determine not only his time here but his future in the game. He looks a player. I wouldn’t want to be throwing a host of accolades in someone’s direction if they’re not up for it but I think he’s definitely capable.”
Q: You’ve now got three there that are options as well. Is that giving you a lot of food for thought about how you approach games?
Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, of course. We definitely have got better options up front than we had last season. Daizen Maeda single-handedly took it upon himself to get the goals for us, which was fantastic. And then, of course, Kelechi Iheanacho, he scored really vital goals so between the two of them, they got us over the line in that sense. Not to say that other people didn’t play their parts, of course they did, but we feel as if we’ve got better options in the sense that I think we’re capable of scoring goals. Last season, during my time, both spells, I was wondering where the goals were going to come from.”
Q: Lots of options, Martin, but how big a miss will Yang be over these next four games?
Martin O’Neill: “He will be a big miss for us. He’s playing exceptionally well for what he does with the ball. It’s terrific, he’s scored a couple of very important goals for us. And what he’s doing without the ball, I don’t think anybody could question his work rate for us at the football club. He’s been great, but he’s been great since I’ve come in here. I think he’s just responded to a bit of encouragement. He can definitely go past players, which is great, and then he’s the first one to work back. So he’s a big miss for us in that position that he has finally determined to be his own. It’s great, but he will be away for a number of weeks, so we’ll just have to cope with that.”
Q: Do you allow yourself to have one eye at all on the next fixture after tomorrow?
Martin O’Neill: “I genuinely can’t, and that’s honestly where I think, first of all, we have to play our game. We have to try and defend a title. We have to try and win a football match. And to me, this game is far more important than Sunday’s match.
Q: Sam Johnstone comes in with good pedigree, of course, playing in the Premier League and played for England. Have you been impressed with what you’ve seen in training with him so far? Do you think he can provide real competition for Viljami Sinisalo?
Martin O’Neill: “I do, I do. I think that’s very important. Why should goalkeepers not have that sort of competition as much as anything else? There’s outfield players who have it every time. And the only thing about it is that goalkeepers are so rigid in that sense that you find that somebody else is stepping in and playing a game. It’s a wee bit like about Sinisalo last season, coming in to take over from Kasper.
“And he did remarkably well, so much so that Kasper, when he got fit, couldn’t or looked as if he was getting fit, didn’t get back in again. And then he had, obviously, the problems with his shoulder. But Sinisalo was up for the challenge, so I think that goalkeepers should be challenged.”
Q: Is that the sort of challenge you set to Sam then? Because I think we spoke to him last week and he said that he’s here with a mindset that he wants to be number one.
Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, that’s really pleasing. I wouldn’t want it any other way. He’s still young. It’s not as if, let’s say, he’s 40 years of age and just waiting for the last contract. He’s there. He wants to do well. It’s not that long ago that he was involved with the England squad. So, yeah, he’s determined. He’s looked really good in training. And at some stage or another, he will get into a game because it’ll be necessary for him. We’ve got some European games coming up, but the most important game is tomorrow evening for us.”
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