‘I’d be astonished if board doesn’t improve team’
MARTIN O’NEILL is convinced that Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers will be given funds to spend before the end of the summer transfer window.
The first deadline expires in four days when Celtic will be required to submit their Champions League squad for the upcoming qualifying tie against Slovan Bratislava or Kairat Almaty this month.
The men from Kazakhstan hold a slender 1-0 advantage heading into the second leg, with the Scottish champions facing the prospect of a gruelling 7000mile round trip ahead of the first derby of the season against Rangers.
There is a widely held view that Celtic are significantly weaker in key areas than they were last season, having sold the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi and Nicolas Kuhn in the last eight months.
Whilst the underlying feeling is that Celtic are undercooked heading into the crucial Champions League two-legged tie, O’neill remains hopeful that the club’s largest shareholder, Dermot Desmond, and the Parkhead powerbrokers will loosen the purse strings sooner rather than later.
O’neill said: “Well, I’m hoping that Celtic get a few players in. I think historically speaking, they do get them in. They got them in last year, didn’t they? I’ve been in the same situation as a manager when we haven’t done business early on.
“The minute you finish the season, you think, ‘Oh God, that’s great’. You take a bit of a breather, and before you know it, the pre-season games come along. I must admit I loved the pre-season. There is no pressure. No pressure at all.
“I liked being in places like
Philadelphia after the match is over, sitting there with a glass of wine, thinking, ‘What a life this is’.
“You don’t think about anything. The same sort of things are coming up again, and Brendan wants to improve the team.
“I would be astonished if the board and Dermot didn’t want to improve the team. However, each day that counts down, I suppose, you get worried. I was exactly the same when I was the manager of Celtic.”
O’neill joked that he was always told largest shareholder, Desmond, that he was four players short of the perfect squad.
He said: “Most managers say they are two players short of the ideal squad. For me, it was always four. I’d double it.
“I’d just pick a number. We’re four short. No, I didn’t, no, it was all in my mind. Dermot would see a short shrift in that one.
“I don’t even think I put a number on it, but to be honest, I would be embarrassed to listen to some of my comments 25 years ago, I really would be.
“As a manager, you’re looking to try and improve the team. You would say that at this minute, if Celtic are going to maintain last season’s form, particularly in the
Champions League, then you would think that they would need a bit of help.”
It is just 25 years since O’neill’s Celtic achieved their greatest Champions League qualifying result when they travelled to the Dutch capital and hammered Ajax 3-1 in the Amsterdam Arena (Jihan Cruyff Arena) in the first leg of their double header.
Despite losing 1-0 in Glasgow, Celtic advanced to the Champions League group stages for the first time.
O’neill insists that both Celtic and Rangers are Champions League teams and that they should always be aiming to compete in the elite competition of club football.
“That night in the Amsterdam Arena was amazing, honestly,” he said.
“Bobby Petta, Didier Agathe, and Chris Sutton scored, didn’t they? This is what Celtic and Rangers should be talking about. They should always be plying their trade in the big leagues.
“The precedent was set years and years ago, certainly for Celtic with Jock Stein.
And every... every manager that steps in. That seems as if it’s a million miles away, and it probably is at this minute. It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be aspiring to that. You have to go for it.
“There is a school of thought that Celtic and Rangers would be better off playing in the Europa League. I don’t agree with that sentiment. If you’re in the Europa League, that’s fine, but your aspirations should always be the Champions League.”