“It could have been Saturday night all over again,” Martin O’Neill
· Yahoo Sports
Martin O’Neill spoke to the mainstream media after Celtic’s 1-0 win at McDiarmid Park against St Johnstone last night with the only ‘goal’ of the match being scored by Mika Baur despite Celtic creating an abundance of chances in the match…
9th September 2026; McDiarmid Park, Perth, Scottish Premiership, St Johnstone versus Celtic; Mika Baur of Celtic celebrates after he shoots and scores in the 52nd minute to make it 1-0 to Celtic. Photo Vagelis Georgariou
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Haissem Hassan did have the ball in the back of the net but the VAR rule change on Saturday night that cost Celtic a goal at Paisley wasn’t used in Perth so a lineman’s error was not looked at by the referee and a perfectly legitimate Celtic goal was ruled out, disgracefully.
Here’s everything that was said with the first questions coming from Peter Martin at PLZ…
Martin O’Neill at McDiarmid Park. 9th September 2026; McDiarmid Park, Perth, Scottish Premiership St Johnstone versus Celtic; Photo Vagelis Georgariou
Q: Martin, what did you make of that performance?
Martin O’Neill: “I don’t know, I really don’t know. I thought we started off with a lot of possession. I thought we started to create a few things. When we were doing that, it looked as if there was nobody in the penalty box for us. Then Sam Johnstone makes a great save, which is a big, big moment in the game for us. Because it could have been Saturday night all over again. We got a bit more tempo into the game in the second half, got the goal and saw it through. We could have scored a number of goals, but we made that look very, very difficult indeed.
Q: You had about 35 crosses into the box. Is that a source of positivity or real frustration?
Martin O’Neill: “No, genuinely it is positive. Some of the crosses that we put in were just meat and drink for the goalkeeper. But overall, yes, delighted that we were getting balls in from wide.”
Q: On the weekend, you mentioned the fact that you knew you were in a battle with St Mirren. You knew they were a quality outfit. Were you in any way surprised by what St Johnstone offered tonight?
Martin O’Neill: “No, not at all. I saw them opening game of the season. You can’t judge everything by that, but I thought their enthusiasm, their way of playing. Against Kilmarnock, I thought they did really well. Then I watched the game on TV against Hibs and I thought they were excellent, really excellent in the game. No, they didn’t surprise me at all.
“In many aspects, they mirrored St Mirren. Towards the end of the game, when the game was still in the balance, I thought we defended stoutly enough and saw it through. But yes, I wasn’t surprised by them because I think they’re really decent.”
Q: How encouraged were you by Sam Johnstone’s debut, especially that save in the first half?
Martin O’Neill: “The save was fantastic. Really, really brilliant reaction save. He’s been a fine goalkeeper. It’s just a matter of getting up to speed with things. I think he took a bit of cramp then. A goalkeeper taking cramp, whatever next. But anyway, I think Peter Shilton took cramp way back in 1979 as well too, so I shouldn’t complain.”
Q: Does Sam Johnstone give you real food for thought going into the weekend? Viljami Sinisalo has been reliable?
Martin O’Neill: “Yes, he’s done very, very well indeed. But you need to find out. While I do not want to use games like this, I have to find out about a number of players. For instance, Oliver Sorensen started the game tonight. Our main man only came on in the last 10 or 15 minutes. So it does, it gives you food for thought.”
Q: I was going to say, was that one of the more pleasing aspects, that you could freshen up the team and still see out the points?
Martin O’Neill: “Well, it is in that aspect. So, Sorensen gets on, Duran doesn’t start for us. He’s just been class. He looked tired in the game against St Mirren. But I’m not surprised for the amount of things that he does for us, both with the ball, which is terrific, and also the work that he does off it. He’s second only to Daizen Maeda in terms of closing players down. So I wanted to try and see if we could do without him, and the answer is probably not!”
Q: Just on the goalkeeping situation, Martin, did you have a chat with Viljami Sinisalo before?
Martin O’Neill: “Yes, yes. But you need competition for places. Yes, I spoke to him, and he’s taken it. We’ll see what happens on Sunday. But we’ve got loads and loads of games, and it is really nice to know that I have actually two really decent goalkeepers.”
Q: Do you expect to call on Cameron Carter-Vickers come the weekend?
Martin O’Neill: “I’m hoping that he would be available, yes, for us. He hasn’t hardly missed a minute of pre-season, and also the games. He’s been out for a year, and he was just feeling really sore on Saturday evening. I’ve got much time for big Dane Murray. I’ve got a lot of time for him. I think he’s got a proper career. His injuries have curtailed him for a while, but he’s just coming through. I think he’s got a really decent future, and things to pick up on. But yes, in terms of Carter-Vickers, he should be okay for Sunday.”
Q: Glowing in your praise of Camilo Duran, do you think there’s a wee bit of a lack of confidence or more to come from Kasper Hogh, who looked as if he was going to be scoring goals for fun?
Martin O’Neill: “I think it’s what you do. It’s your overall picture. Of course, centre-forwards, or strikers, they live and die by goals. When he scored the hat-trick against Kilmarnock, he was up and running, which was terrific. No, I don’t think that. That was his first time back, really, from the thing that he got in Austria. I thought that he did fine without getting a goal. Sometimes it happens, but he’s trying to get into that position, which I thought he did in the second half.”
9th September 2026; McDiarmid Park, Perth, Scottish Premiership, St Johnstone versus Celtic; Mika Baur of Celtic shoots and scores in the 52nd minute to make it 1-0 to Celtic. Photo Vagelis Georgariou
Q: Mika Baur got a goal tonight. What did you think of his performance and how he’s settling into life?
Martin O’Neill: “Trying to settle in. He’s small. I told him, if you’re small in this game, you’ve got to be really brilliant. So he’s aspiring to be brilliant.”
Q: Do you still think there’s more to come from him?
Martin O’Neill: “Absolutely. There’s definitely more. Once he gets used to the environment, throwing him in his full debut for us against LASK, that was tough for him.”
Q: Kieran Tierney’s return is timely as well?
Martin O’Neill: “Yes, of course. It’s nice to see him. Trying to get him on the field before the end of the game. Even if he’d not got on, he’d have been alright for Sunday.”
Q: Are you seeing a lot of positives in your mind, Martin, ahead of Sunday?
Martin O’Neill: “Naturally, I’m pleased we’ve won the game. Now we can concentrate from tomorrow onwards on the game. It’s a big match. I’ve not paid any attention. I said to the lads yesterday that the most important thing was tonight. We made a couple of changes in the side and you’re always concerned of making changes in the team, but the best place to know is not essentially in the training ground, it’s finding out what they can do in the matches.”
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