Celtic

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Martin O'Neill knows he is under increasing scrutiny as Celtic manager after alarming successive losses - but insists Sunday's Old Firm derby isn't a must-win fixture.

Celtic are looking to bounce back after insipid defeats to Rangers in the League Cup last eight and Ferencvaros in the Europa League opener.

O'Neill's side top the Premiership by five points from Rangers, who have won five successive games before the derby which precedes a three-week hiatus for international action.

"No, it's too early in the season to say," said O'Neill. "It would be great if we could win because we could go eight points clear. And we've won the previous six league games.

"The game is big. It's a big game whether it's played in September or March. It's a really big game. We need to be up for the game.

"Do we need to win the game? It would be nice to win, it wouldn't be great if we lost. That would be three on the trot, and of course psychologically it would be a blow."

O'Neill says questions over his tactics and team selections amid Celtic's recent downturn comes with the territory.

"That's the nature of the game," he said.

"Honestly, the minute that you lose a football match, you will be asked. And I don't see why I shouldn't be asked.

"I can get a bit tetchy now and again. Sometimes I have to apologise for that.

"But overall, what I did say was that we don't seem to be questioned when we win the football matches. But yeah, everybody has a right to ask.

"At the end of it all, I'm responsible for team selection, I'm responsible for the tactics, and of course I should be questioned."

• Celtic's 3-1 win over Rangers in May ended a six-game winless run in league Old Firm derbies (D3 L3). The Hoops have won six of their past eight home games against Rangers in the Scottish Premiership (L2).

• After a 3-0 victory in the League Cup last weekend, Derek McInnes could become only the second Rangers manager to win both of his first two Old Firm derbies, after Graeme Souness in 1986.

• Celtic are looking to win 14+ consecutive league matches for the first time since March 2017 under Brendan Rodgers (22), a run that ended with a 1-1 home draw with Rangers.

• Rangers have scored seven goals from 128 shots in the Premiership this season, a conversion rate of 5.5% - the lowest in the division.

• Five of Celtic's six home league goals this season have come in the first half of matches, with their only second-half strike at Celtic Park coming from Benjamin Nygren against Dundee on matchday one.

• Rangers have used more players (26) and made the joint-most starting XI changes (18) of any side in the top flight.

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Rangers have been in contact with the Scottish FA over Celtic midfielder Mika Baur's challenge on Ryan Naderi that left the striker's ankle in a "mess", says Derek McInnes.

Naderi is a doubt for Sunday's league derby at Celtic Park following the second-half incident - which resulted in a free-kick to Celtic - in Rangers' 3-0 League Cup win over Martin O'Neill's side last weekend.

"Well, I haven't (sought an explanantion) but the club have," said manager McInnes.

"The club, (chief executive) Jim Gillespie, spoke to (referees' chief) Willie Collum and the SFA about it. I'm really not happy with the challenge, but I'm not going to get caught up in referee chat.

"I'm surprised that the referee wasn't asked to look at that. I find it strange that it wasn't. Ryan's ankle's a mess. It was a mess, it was a poor challenge.

"Sometimes these challenges can happen, but it didn't look great, to be honest. And Ryan is one of two players who's a wee bit of doubt for the game on Sunday."

With Lawrence Shankland and Youssef Chermiti out injured, Naderi's absence would leave Kevin Kelsy and Bojan Miovski as Rangers' only two available strikers.

"We don't really have another like-for-like, but we'll give him every chance," added McInnes.

"We've had to cope without key players before. I'm hoping he can make it, but if he doesn't, it will be somebody else's opportunity."

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Celtic manager Martin O'Neill has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Old Firm derby at home to Rangers (12:00 BST).

Here are the key points from the news conference:

• Celtic are "raring to go" despite "difficult" defeats to Rangers and Ferencvaros in the past five days.

• O'Neill later adds: "The players are capable of turning it around."

• Confidence is "far from rock bottom" and O'Neill insists: "We're still in the lead in the league. And if we can win this, we can extend the lead. If we don't, going into the international break, we're still going to be in front."

• O'Neill acknowledged the crowd's "frustration" with the team's ponderous build-up play on Thursday night and wants the team to be a "bit more inventive".

• While Celtic could go eight points clear or have their lead cut to two, O'Neill says it's "too early in the season" for the game to be season defining. "It's not a thing that you would look forward to going into an international break on three successive defeats, if that's the case. We're going to try and remedy that and try and put that right."

• New signings who featured at Ibrox last weekend "shouldn't need many more lessons" in what is required to play for Celtic.

• O'Neill is "genuinely not sure" if a 4-4-2 formation - which Celtic switched to at half-time on Thursday night - is the way to accommodate all their best players but says: "In the short term, if it is for the team benefit then that's something we could look at."

• He insists Celtic, having traditionally played a 4-3-3, must be able to "improvise" tactically.

• On having his tactics and team selection questioned, O'Neill says: "That's the nature of the game. Honestly, the minute you lose a football match, you will be asked, and I don't see why I shouldn't be asked. I can get a bit tetchy now and again, sometimes I have to apologise for that."

• Asked if he understands fans' concerns over the team's direction, O'Neill responds: "Yeah, absolutely. I also get the fact they might be asking why the team has been led by a 74-year-old man. When I was 73, we won."

• The Celtic boss "very much" expects Rangers to play the same way as last weekend and, on the Ibrox side's tactics, adds: "Why would they want to change a great deal if they won the game?"

Martin Dowden
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Midfielder Mika Baur has called on Celtic to show fight and bring the right energy and mentality when they host Rangers in the Premiership on Sunday after a bruising week of damaging defeats.

Martin O'Neill's side compounded the 3-0 Premier Sports Cup loss to Rangers with another dismal showing, going down 3-1 at home to Ferencvaros in their opening Europa League fixture.

Baur levelled against the Hungarians but Celtic immediately conceded a second in first-half stoppage time before Ferenvcaros netted again two minutes after the interval.

"Stick together again," Baur responded when asked what Celtic must do better.

"Get the energy level really, really high on Sunday. I think that's the most important thing, to be in the fights and the duels. Just fight for it on Sunday. I think that's the most important thing.

"You will not win it with beautiful football and nice plays. Maybe you will score through it, but you will win the game on Sunday with mentality and energy.

"That was not us on Sunday [against Rangers]. So it's more about fighting back to ourselves, fighting back to the winning streak. Just take the win and get three points and leave them behind us."

Celtic would move eight points clear of Rangers with a win, but in the defeats against the Ibrox side and Ferencvaros they have looked defensively fragile. Baur is looking for a reaction in another big game on Sunday.

"We should react on Sunday, for sure," he said. "I think now we lost two or three of the big matches this season. I don't know if it's an issue of that.

"You have to be ready for these games. We should be ready in the future, and we should start on Sunday with it."

Baur described a first call-up to the Germany squad as "an unbelievable feeling, a big, big honour," but conceded the demands of playing for Celtic are quite challenging after arriving from Paderborn in the summer.

"It is, for sure," he said. "It's a big club but I knew it when I came here. I knew what it means to play for Celtic and I just try to give my all for it.

"Sometimes it works out really, really well and sometimes not. That's football.

"At the moment it's a lot going on. It's also on individual parts. Just move to another country, learn new culture. I've never played in a club with a size like that.

"For sure, it's everything new, this Germany call-up but I really try to focus on short steps. Now the next step is on Sunday."

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Celtic are "miles off where they would expect to be", according to former Parkhead midfielder Scott Allan, who reckons the opening goal will be more vital than ever for their fragile confidence in Sunday's Old Firm derby.

Speaking on the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast, he was surprised at the lack of response from Martin O'Neill's side after the weekend's 3-0 Premier Sports Cup defeat by Rangers at Ibrox as they lost 3-1 in their Europa League opener at home to Ferencvaros.

"The season started off quite promisingly for Celtic, Europe aside, and then, after that kind of early promise, the balloon looks as though it's burst," Allan said.

He thought Celtic have a squad capable of beating Ferencvaros at home.

"If you're looking at the last two performances together, it's really poor showing for Celtic at a moment in time when the games don't get easier," Allan suggested.

"A lot of people go on about tactics and systems, but I'm just looking at body language and enthusiasm and appetite for the game.

"Defensively, really vulnerable. All at sea at times, it looks so easy to play against. Celtic are going to lose their duels, they're going to lose their second balls."

Allan is not convinced a change of system is the answer given the players were recruited to suit 4-3-3 and it is "up to the coaching staff to make it work".

Yet Celtic would build a commanding eight-point lead over Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premiership in the final game before the international break should they win on Sunday.

"I've never felt the first goal is going to be as important as it is this Sunday," Allan said. "Rangers will have no support in there, so if Rangers go a goal up, that backing can quite quickly turn to anxiety."

Allan thinks Celtic have "got to be better than they were last Sunday" but is predicting a narrow Rangers win.

Martin Dowden
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Celtic defender Liam Scales insists there is no crisis of confidence at the club after Martin O'Neill's side suffered damaging back-to-back defeats.

Thursday night's 3-1 Europa League opening loss to Ferencvaros followed the 3-0 Premier Sports Cup exit to Rangers, who visit Celtic Park in the Premiership on Sunday.

"Definitely not, no crisis," Scales replied when asked if confidence levels were significantly dented.

"It was a tough night. It just felt like a nervy night. I just think the times that the goals went in and how the game went. We did really well to get back in the game.

"I felt like we were decent in the first half and then obviously to concede the second just before half-time and the third right after half-time sort of killed the game and that's individual errors, myself included."

Scales believes successive defeats will not have significant influence on Sunday's meeting with Rangers despite concerns over Celtic's form and defensive frailty in big games.

"I wouldn't say it's damaging in that sense [defeat to Ferencvaros]. It's a completely different competition," he said.

"We still have seven games left in the Europa League. I don't think it will affect how we approach the Rangers game on the weekend.

"I just think in key moments, in big games, we're kind of coming out on the wrong end of individual errors, little 50-50 decisions, and it's hurt us.

"We have to separate this and move on to the game. We're in really good form in the league. We've won every game so far. That's what we need to focus on.

"I definitely think a positive result on Sunday completely changes the narrative and the feeling around the place."

Scales also dismissed the notion some new signings haven't grasped the demands of playing for Celtic, with a number struggling to make consistent impact.

"I think they have," he said. "I think it's just a matter of getting used to the demands every week. I do feel like they know how big the club is and how much every game means to the fans.

"It's just about getting the consistency and showing up every single week and being our best as a team.

"I think the new lads have been really, really good. We've seen bits of magic from all of them. They'll improve as well. They'll get used to it. It's a difficult club to come to and time is key for them."

We asked for your views after Celtic begin their Europa League campaign with a 3-1 home defeat by Ferencvaros.

Here are some of your comments:

Patrick: Can't say I'm surprised. This is beginning to look like the Covid season where we lost everything. Something needs to change and the answer can't just be to sack the manager, because then what? Must focus on the weekend, Celtic can't lose three games in a week, twice to the Rangers!

Reids: Very poor from Celtic. Got a lift from summer signings but that is now gone. Alistair Johnston, Jota and Yang back will be soon, Celtic need to hang in there. A win against Rangers on Sunday and all is forgotten.

Kev: Shambolic, we are getting overrun in midfield. The centre of defence is slow. I may be in the minority but Liam Scales has no right to be playing, he's an accident waiting to happen. Is it time to drop Callum McGregor? He sets the slow tempo. O'Neill needs to change the tactics, we are being outfought and frankly outclassed in midfield.

Gary: Terrible performance yet again, Sunday is going to be a nightmare if we are still in this kind of form.

Franny: Martin O'Neill is a legend from past endeavours, but his time is gone, and his supporting cast aren't helping. It's time for change and that includes our custodians. Money sitting in a bank doesn't improve our standing in football matters. Time for an overall clearing of the decks.

Gordy: Appalling performance from so many players. Scales looked as if he had never played for us and is devoid of confidence. Sadly the same can be said for McGregor, he is not playing well due to carrying the burden of this team. The fact we have to call on James Forest and Luke McCowan shows how far the team have deteriorated. I fear for us on Sunday as I don't know if we have a first team who can challenge Rangers.

Ray: Simply put it is a powderpuff midfield and central defence is error strewn and lack pace. Add misfiring up front and poor final ball to the mix and you lose every big game. Surgery required.

Venezuela are keeping Paulo Bernardo, currently on loan to Gornik Zabrze from Celtic, under constant observation for a possible international call-up despite the 24-year-old midfielder having been capped at under-21 level by Portugal. (Lacalle, external)

Read Friday's Scottish Gossip in full.

The clouds around Celtic darkened further as they followed Old Firm defeat with a loss in their Europa League opener against Ferencvaros.

MATCH REPORT

HAVE YOUR SAY

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Celtic manager Martin O'Neill: "We're naturally disappointed getting beaten. We started off very, very brightly. We had a number of balls that were flashed across the goal and no-one there to put the ball in the net for us.

"They're first attempt, proper attempt, really, on goal yielded a goal for them. We come back into the game, got the equaliser just before half-time and then conceded a really poor goal.

"We're hit on the break for the third goal. While we had a number of balls flashed across the box even in the last 20 minutes, we didn't get there to the front post a number of times that could've kept it alive and we're beaten in the game."

Kheredine Idessane
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

More than a year on from one of their most embarrassing European exits, Celtic are struggling to escape from a groundhog day entirely of their own making.

Amid buzz phrases like "learning lessons" and "wake-up calls" following last weekend's derby drubbing at Ibrox, an interesting yet awkward question emerges: have Celtic learned anything at all from last year's costly mistakes?

Going out of the Champions League to Kairat Almaty cast a cloud over huge swathes of last season.

Celtic only emerged blinking into the sunshine in the final few minutes of the final game when Martin O'Neill completed the Premiership's great escape. A success that seems merely to have papered over cracks.

Let's wind the clock back to the end of August 2025. After a woeful performance in Almaty, Celtic were eliminated from European football's top table by the champions of Kazakhstan. A catastrophic result that changed the course of the club's recent history.

Within a couple of months domestic form dipped drastically, Brendan Rodgers resigned, majority shareholder Dermot Desmond let rip in the most public manner possible and the club gambled on Wilfried Nancy.

Fan protests were rife, discontent was widespread. O'Neill rode to the rescue not once but twice, delivering the most unlikely double.

Surely Celtic wouldn't - couldn't - make the same mistakes again?

And yet here they are. Another calamitous Champions League exit, another long portentous shadow. Another period of patchy recruitment in which the signing of players who can score goals is being undermined by a failure to sign (enough) players who can help keep the ball out at the other end.

Are Celtic stronger or weaker than last season? For the much-heralded arrivals of Camilo Duran, Kasper Hogh, Haissem Hassan and Mika Baur there have been the departures of Daizen Maeda, Arne Engels, Reo Hatate, Kelechi Iheanacho and Marcelo Saracchi. If Celtic are more enterprising, are they weaker at the core?

It certainly looked like it in the meek defeat to Rangers. The Champions League play-off with LASK threw up an astonishing statistic: Celtic conceded 60 shots across those two matches.

Celtic have made themselves far too easy to play against and cut through. Five times Dundee United rattled the woodwork earlier this season and still lost 4-0.

There is something lightweight and ineffectual about the current Celtic set-up: a gaping hole in midfield. Captain Callum McGregor says you can't defend "with six players". With Ferencvaros, Rangers, Motherwell and Benfica on the imminent horizon, Celtic simply cannot afford to carry any passengers.

Successive chronic failures to recruit comprehensively enough - early enough - has resulted in six successive failures to qualify for the Champions League.

The shadow it cast a year ago only dispersed fleetingly over the summer. It's back, arguably darker and more foreboding than before. Twelve months ago, O'Neill was seen as the solution. We're about to find out if he still is.

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Mika Baur has given a first senior Germany call-up as new head coach Jurgen Klopp unveiled an unprecedented 44-man squad for upcoming Nations League matches and described the Celtic midfielder as an "exciting" prospect.

The 22-year-old, who has already played for his country at youth level up to under-21s and joined the Scottish champions from Paderborn this summer, is one of 16 players to be handed their first call-ups by the former Liverpool manager.

Teams are restricted to naming 20 outfield players and three goalkeepers for each match, but Klopp has split the group into two separate squads for their four upcoming fixtures.

The first group will be available for the games fixtures against the Netherlands in Amsterdam on 24 September and at home to Greece three days later in Augsburg.

The second group, which includes Baur, will be available for Germany's matches against Serbia in Munich on 1 October and Greece in Thessaloniki on 4 October.

"I consider him really exciting," Klopp said. "He's absolutely up for it.

"We also spoke on the phone about the weather in Glasgow – something I know well from Liverpool.

"With this move, he's taken on a very challenging step."

Explaining his thinking, Klopp said: "It's very unusual that you've got four games in two weeks with the national team.

"I want to get to know as many players as possible in that time. It's not an A-team and a B-team, but the two squads have been created in a way that each fits well together."

Klopp replaced Julian Nagelsmann in July after the four-time World Cup winners were eliminated at the last-32 stage of the World Cup, their third successive early exit from the tournament.

"It really felt like you had the feeling after the World Cup that German football is on its knees and we have no talents, no footballers," Klopp added.

"In the past four weeks, as we've been looking closely, plenty of talents have caught our eye.

"It's a squad for two or three years from now, not just for the next four international games."

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Ferencvaros head coach Balazs Borbely has good memories of Celtic Park despite being on the end of a 4-0 defeat on his previous visit.

The 46-year-old Slovak was part of the Artmedia Bratislava team that almost squandered a 5-0 first-leg advantage in a Champions League qualifier in 2005.

"My memories of that are quite positive because we qualified for the next round, but I remember that it was a really tough game," Borbely said as he prepares for Thursday's Europa League opener in Glasgow.

"After 5-0 in Bratislava, we were losing 4-0 and there was about 10 minutes left. It was a really tough game.

"I was lucky to experience the Celtic Park atmosphere as a player. I know what is waiting for our players, but this is not our first difficult game in Europe, so I expect a brave performance."

Ferencvaros winger Daniel Arzani is another who has prior experience of Celtic Park after making just two appearances during an injury-disrupted two years on loan from Manchester City between 2018 and 2020.

"I'm really excited to be back here," said the 27-year-old, who was a squad-mate of Celtic trio Callum McGregor, James Forrest and Tony Ralston.

"It's an incredible atmosphere and a club with a lot of history. Personally, it was a difficult period for me being here.

"I was 19, I had a cruciate ligament injury on my debut. But I'm happy to be back and walking out into the stadium there felt surreal.

"For me, it's just a little bit nostalgic. I know the atmosphere is going to be incredible.

"We're not just here for the fun of it. I think we can give it a really good shot."

Celtic winger Yang Hyun-jun believes he has staked his "entire footballing career" on helping South Korea win the Asian Cup - he will receive an exemption from military duty if they lift the trophy for the fourth time in a row - as it meant the 24-year-old missed crucial games with the Scottish champions. (The National, external)

Celtic are relaxed about holding on to Benjamin Nygren next summer despite the 25-year-old Sweden midfielder having admitted there was plenty of interest during the last transfer window. (Football Insider, external)

Celtic have shown negligence by failing to nurture a successor to captain Callum McGregor as the 33-year-old midfield general nears the end of his contract, according to former Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness. (Football Insider, external)

Read Thursday's Scottish Gossip in full.