1st November 2026; Falkirk Stadium, Scottish Premiership Falkirk versus Celtic; Celtic manager Martin ONeill speaks to Celtic TV. Photo Vagelis Georgariou
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Q: Just how frustrating an afternoon was that for you, Martin?
Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, naturally disappointing. I’m disappointed to have lost the game, first of all. But we had a lot of chances. A lot of chances. The goalkeeper was magnificent all afternoon. Yeah, but naturally we’ve lost the game, so it’s very disappointing.”
1st November 2026; Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk, Scottish Premiership Football, Falkirk versus Celtic; Ethan Ross of Falkirk shoots and scores past Sam Johnstone of Celtic to make it 1-0 in the 3rd minute. Photo Vagelis Georgariou
Q: Disappointed, too, just with the manner of the goals?
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Martin O’Neill: “Of course, of course. They were very poor, from our viewpoint. The first one, we hadn’t cleared it, and the second one we’ve allowed somebody to just run through and pick a spot. But we had some really great chances, we just weren’t able to convert.”
Q: I think that’s three wins in ten, six defeats in ten. Is there a route out of this form for yourself that you can see?
Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, of course.”
1st November 2026; Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk, Scotland; Scottish Premiership Football, Falkirk versus Celtic; Scott Tanser of Falkirk celebrates after he shoots and scores in the 38th minute to make it 2-0 to Falkirk. Photo Vagelis Georgariou
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Q: What is that route? Because it seems to be the same problems that happen on a weekly basis?
Martin O’Neill: “Right, what would they be? Losing bad goals, going behind… Yeah, we’ll have to try and sort it out.”
Q: But, I mean, you were saying on Friday it was fine, but it’s clearly not the case now?
Martin O’Neill: “You’re right, you can take that statistic, and you would be right about that. Absolutely, we have conceded some poor goals, and we haven’t kept a clean sheet for some time. And that’s the essence of a championship team. But we’re still at the top of the league, and we need to address it. And that’s the way out of it.”
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Q: Do you feel that players are maybe struggling with confidence in the final third? Or was today just purely down to the goalkeeper?
Martin O’Neill: “Well, we scored seven against Hearts, and that’s not that long ago. But I don’t know. I just thought the goalkeeper had a magnificent game. We should have scored. We should have scored a number in each half at the end of it all. And when you don’t, of course it becomes very frustrating. But, yeah, we have to address the fact that we’re conceding some goals. Hopefully we can do that. And it’s still a long season ahead.”
1st November 2026; Falkirk Stadium, Scottish Premiership Falkirk versus Celtic; Scott Bain of Falkirk celebrates with Lewis Neilson of Falkirk after making a save. Photo Vagelis Georgariou
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Q: You drafted back in Cameron Carter-Vickers today, what do you make of his display?
Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, Dane, who’s done wonderfully well for us, the big fella’s played a number of games at this minute. Obviously the reason for us to have a squad is the number of games that we’re playing in relatively quick succession. So we’ve gone weekends, midweeks, weekends, midweeks for some quite considerable time. We’ve had a couple of boys who are away, Auston Trusty is away at this minute. I think with his father dying and Oliver Sorensen had a family bereavement as well too. So, yeah, those things are happening. But players need to play at some stage or another. And he has been a big player for Celtic in the past, Carter-Vickers.”
Q: Did you sense the frustration within the team just as the goal wasn’t coming?
“I said to them at half-time, I thought we were still well in the game. I thought we played some really decent stuff. The problem when you do concede, if you concede a really magnificent goal, then I think you just take that and you just try and take that in your stride.
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“We’ve conceded it, which from any viewpoint I think would have been a very poor goal. And so tough to get back. Then the goalkeeper makes some great saves and it becomes a wee bit frustrating. But it was one of those afternoons where we could, despite our mistakes at the back, we had enough chances to win the game.”
1st November 2026; Falkirk Stadium, Scottish Premiership Falkirk versus Celtic; Callum McGregor of Celtic reacts to missing a great chance. Photo Vagelis Georgariou
Q: Personally, do days like today just strengthen your resolve to buckle down on the training pitch and turn it around?
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Martin O’Neill: “I think that’s exactly what we have to do because it’s the football club. It’s Celtic Football Club. We’re not used to losing a lot of games. We were in a much worse position this time last year in the league. So we really have to buckle down and try and win a game. Try and win a game in Europe for a start, which would help. Thursday is a big game and then the following Sunday is a massive match for us as well too before we go into the international break. So I agree with you entirely.”
Q: How big a fix do you think it is for you? Do you think there’s a lot that needs improving?
Martin O’Neill: “I think we need to sort out a few things. I was asked a question earlier about confidence in players. If you take Kasper Hogh, for instance, wanting desperately to get a goal, to get off the mark again after his hat-trick quite some time ago. So those things, something might fall for him. But it’s not just something might fall. You have to really work at it. That’s something that we as a team and players in particular will have to do.”
1st November 2026; Falkirk Stadium, Scottish Premiership Football, Falkirk versus Celtic; James Forrest of Celtic ahead of the match. Photo Vagelis Georgariou
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Q: You’re making a lot of changes at half-time in games. How far away do you feel from knowing what your best starting eleven is and your best set-up is?
Martin O’Neill: “Again, I was asked that question and you’re right to ask it as well too. And in all honesty, I think that when you ask managers that, sometimes you think that your best team is the one that has won convincingly. But there are a number of players that have arrived at the football club that I just, the only way that I’m going to tell, you can look blue in the face when you’re watching training. You think somebody’s doing well, somebody maybe not. So the only place to really find out where players fit in this thing is out there.”
Q: Do you feel as though there’s maybe some players that came here in the summer that maybe need to learn to cope with the expectations and pressures that come with playing for Celtic?
Martin O’Neill: “I think that’s a really good point. Absolutely. This is it. That’s exactly right. You have to cope with the pressure and to be a player. And sometimes, as the great Tommy Burns once said, it might be easier to play against Celtic than for them at this stage. But hopefully we’ve enough in the dressing room, players in the dressing room, who have been big winners here, who can hopefully pull them through that. That’s what I think.”
1st November 2026; Falkirk Stadium, Scottish Premiership Football, Falkirk versus Celtic; Kieran Tierney of Celtic. Photo Vagelis Georgariou
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Q: So it’s just a half-time change, everything OK with Callum Osmand? That’s a tactical tweak, isn’t it?
Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, it was just a tactical tweak.”
Q: Is Kieran Tierney alright as well?
Martin O’Neill: “He took a couple of knocks here, but I’m hoping that he’ll be OK.”
Q: Was Jota not in the squad just because of the pitch?
Martin O’Neill: “Absolutely.”
