O'Neill calls for show of character after Euro calamitypublished at 17:50 BST
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Martin O'Neill has challenged his side to show traditional Celtic "character" against Falkirk in the wake of their shambolic Champions League exit.
The play-off capitulation against LASK in Linz - where Celtic had a four-goal cushion after half an hour - has fans in uproar before the return of domestic action on Saturday.
"I've known this from my time at this football club, you're always one game away from a crisis, and that's the case," said 74-year-old manager O'Neill.
"It's a major disappointment to get knocked out of the competition, particularly carrying a lead and certainly with 60 minutes to go and we are looking in real control of the game.
"They've had a couple of skirmishes but we have had the better chances in the game. And to let it slip in the manner in which we did, that is my responsibility.
"And so we have to go and and really show, I know it's an overused word, the character. We have to show a lot of character.
"And there'll be moments in the game tomorrow, misplaced passes, allowing Falkirk in, shots at goal and maybe even going a goal behind in the game, where the crowd are going to get really restless. Absolutely, so we have to fight that.
"But that's been the case even in my days with [Henrik] Larsson and [Neil] Lennon, [Paul] Lambert, it was the case then, so that doesn't change. And you know what? I wouldn't expect it to. We can't live in laurels for the rest of our time.
"One of the great highs was us winning the league [last season] and one of the major lows was losing this game the other night. It doesn't get any easier at 74 years of age. In fact, it gets worse."
O'Neill on Champions League failure, Europa draw & signingspublished at 14:55 BST
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Martin O'Neill has been speaking to the media before Celtic host Falkirk in the Premiership on Saturday.
Here are the key points from the media conference:
O'Neill says Celtic's Europa League draw is "really tough" and "something to look forward to" but admits "I still haven't got over" the Champions League play-off exit to LASK.
He hopes the Champions League exit will not impact on the club adding new signings: "I think we're still trying to get some players in. We would need a few in, obviously, to supplement the squad."
But O'Neill admits Celtic may now miss out on some targets because the Champions League is a "big carrot, particularly for a lot of young players".
He insists Celtic should have been "out of sight by half-time" of Tuesday night's 5-1 defeat in Austria.
O'Neill is "obviously disappointed with myself" and, when asked what he could have done better, says: "I have to really analyse it again. The period of the game just after half-time when they've scored, 2-1, the momentum's with them. What can you do to stop that momentum?"
The management and players have discussed the LASK defeat and while they can't "push it to the side", O'Neill stressed the need to "recover quickly" and focus on upcoming challenges.
On fan discontent over the Champions League failure, O'Neill says Celtic are "always one game away from a crisis" and the players need to show "a lot of character" against Falkirk.
Callum McGregor missed training on Friday with a stomach bug, but O'Neill hopes the captain will be available on Saturday.
He adds: "We've got a couple of boys with a few knocks and things, but it's as much psychological as physical for us to get through."
While it's one of the trickiest away trips Celtic could have booked from pot one, they are rewarded with a nicer home tie against French outfit Marseille.
Fifth in Ligue 1 last season and captained by ex-Celt Timo Weah, they are a much more winnable tie than the likes of Bayer Leverkusen, AC Milan or Juventus.
Pot two - where Celtic were placed - brought the return of Ferencvaros to Glasgow. Under Robbie Keane, who quit this summer, they failed to win the league last season and had to navigate four rounds of qualifying to get here.
Like Celtic, though, Union St-Gilloise dropped into this competition after failing in their Champions League play-off, losing after extra-time against Bodo/Glimt.
Two seasons ago, they were surprise winners of the Belgian Pro League - under the stewardship of new Scotland head coach Sebastian Pocognoli - while they also use the same Jamestown Analytics data company as Hearts.
Into pot three, a former Celtic defender will return to Parkhead. Carl Starfelt and Celta Vigo finished sixth in La Liga last season, earning automatic qualification to this stage. A club, of course, Martin O'Neill faced on the way to the Uefa Cup final in 2003.
It's a tie Celtic would have preferred at home, while the away trip is to Omonia Nicosia in Cyprus. Yep, Neil Lennon's former club.
The Cypriot First Division winners were knocked out of the Champions League second qualifying round by Kairat Almaty - again, yep - but got past Lincoln Red Imps and STVV to secure Europa League football.
As names go in pot four, Besiktas are arguably the biggest. Celtic will be delighted they don't need to travel to Turkey for that one.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's previous club had to navigate three qualifying rounds and were helped along the way by former Rangers player, Vaclav Cerny.
While the Turkish heavyweights need no introduction, Torreense maybe do.
From a town 25 miles north of Lisbon, Torres Vedras, their 2,500-seater home stadium does not meet Uefa's requirement and so will play their matches 193 miles away at the Estadio Algarve in Faro.
Celtic v Falkirk: Pick of the statspublished at 09:49 BST
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Celtic have won their past nine league games. Only twice before under Martin O'Neill have they won 10+ in a row: a run of 14 from August to December 2001, and 25 from August 2003 to February 2004.
Falkirk have lost 17 of their past 19 away games at Celtic in all competitions (D2) since a 2-0 victory in October 1994 under Jim Jefferies.
Celtic have won 16 of their past 18 meetings with Falkirk in all competitions (D2) since a 1-0 defeat in March 2007, winning their last nine in a row. Only from March 1950 to August 1954 have the Hoops ever won 10 in a row versus the Bairns.
In their last league outing against Kilmarnock, Celtic fired in 33 shots, the most by any side in a Scottish Premiership game since Rangers against Kilmarnock in May 2024 (41), and the Hoops' most in a league fixture since December 2023 (38 v Dundee).
Falkirk have lost their past 13 league games against reigning Scottish champions by an aggregate score of 39-4 since a 1-0 win over Celtic in March 2007.
Benjamin Nygren has scored in both of his Premiership games this season. The last players to score in Celtic's first three matches of a league campaign were James Forrest and Scott Sinclair in 2016-17.
Falkirk are the only side without a goal in the 2026-27 Premiership, amassing a league-low xG of just 1.1 so far.
Kasper Hogh is the only player to have attempted 10+ shots in the top flight this season (13), scoring a hat-trick against Kilmarnock last time out. He had nine shots in that game, the most by a Celtic player in a single league match since Liel Abada's 10 against St Johnstone in December 2021.
McGinn was 'desperate' to join Celticpublished at 16:03 BST 27 August
16:03 BST 27 August
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Scotland star John McGinn says he was "desperate" to join Celtic in the summer of 2018 before eventually leaving Hibernian for Aston Villa.
Midfielder McGinn has established himself as a key Premier League figure for Villa, becoming club captain and winning the Europa League last season, leaving Celtic to rue what might have been.
The 31-year-old grew up as a Celtic supporter and his grandfather Jack was the club's chairman from 1986 to 1991.
Celtic had multiple bids turned down by Hibs and McGinn believes there was a degree of complacency in the way the Parkhead club approached the transfer.
"If he wasn't my grandpa and I wasn't a Celtic fan, I probably would be a Celtic player," McGinn told The Overlap podcast., external
"They felt because I was a Celtic fan, it would just happen. Nobody else would come in and Hibs would crumble.
"Hibs were amazing. They said 'We're not going to stand in your way, but they need to pay us what you're worth.'
"I gave them my word that I'd wait until they pay what I worth and it never got there. It was two or three million.
"They actually phoned my grandpa to try to influence me, but he had a good relationship with both sides. He trusted me and my agent and he said 'It's nothing to do with me, if you've got the money, pay the money.'
"It went on for months. I met Brendan [Rodgers]. I was desperate to go to Celtic."
Are Celtic setting themselves up to fail?published at 10:47 BST 27 August
10:47 BST 27 August
Kheredine Idessane BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter
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When does a problem become chronic? When it happens half a dozen times in a row?
Celtic's failure to negotiate Champions League qualifying has now cursed them six times in succession. LASK of Austria join a list that comprises Kairat Almaty, Midtjylland, Ferencvaros, Cluj and AEK Athens.
With the possible exception of the Greeks, all clubs Celtic should expect to beat. That they couldn't speaks to something structurally or strategically wrong at the club.
At that frequency, these are not accidents or freaks of nature. Very far from it.
If you have cash reserves at the bank, would you not be better investing some of it early enough to give you a fighting chance of recouping it from Uefa's land of milk and honey?
Or do you wait to see what European competition you're playing in before spending any money you haven't already taken in from player sales?
It's the kind of 'rinse and repeat' that has Celtic fans tearing their hair out. It was the same scenario a year ago when Brendan Rodgers was crying out for reinforcements. None came, of any great note, until after the Kairat catastrophe.
Of course, it's not that Celtic don't spend money. They do. By the tens of millions every summer. How and when they spend it has been the problem.
It tends to be balanced against assets sold. Acquire £25m for Kieran Tierney? Spend it. Bank similar sums for Jota and Matt O'Riley, sanction similar cheques. Move on Daizen Maeda and Arne Engels? Bring in Camilo Duran, Kasper Hogh, Mika Baur and Haissem Hassan. Good, solid business.
Except for one thing. When the biggest games of your season routinely happen in mid-August, do you not need to have spent even bigger, if the money is available, to maximise your Champions League chances?
It's the speed and scope of Celtic's recruitment that seems consistently to let them down, rather than the amount of money spent.
Martin O'Neill's new deal was agreed in early June, before the transfer window opened on the 15th. Celtic therefore had two months to get players in before the Champions League play-off signing deadline.
They brought in four. None of them in a depleted defence, nor a defensive-minded midfielder to compensate for the loss of Arne Engels and Paulo Bernardo.
Celtic look fairly well set in forward areas but wide open at the back. Hence LASK helping themselves to an extraordinary 60 shots in two games.
As it did a year ago, the club's decision not to get the bulk of their transfer business done early enough has blown up in their face.
And with the route into the competition becoming ever more difficult from next summer when three rounds need to be negotiated by the Premiership winners, when will Celtic play Champions League football again?
Hearts taunt Celtic after success in Austriapublished at 09:46 BST 27 August
09:46 BST 27 August
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Hearts couldn't resist a thinly-veiled dig at Celtic after heroically sealing a place in the Conference League.
By overcoming play-off opponents Rapid Vienna on penalties despite Tomas Magnusson's 76th-minute red card, the Tynecastle side succeeded in a country where Celtic had failed the previous evening.
Celtic, having pipped Hearts to the Premiership title on the final day last season, are reeling from squandering a four-goal lead at LASK to tumble out of the Champions League.
As Hearts put it in their social media post: "Winning play-offs in Austria isn't for everyone..."
RB Salzburg rival Celtic for Gineitis - gossippublished at 08:15 BST 27 August
08:15 BST 27 August
Red Bull Salzburg have emerged as a possible destination for Torino and Lithuania midfielder Gvidas Gineitis, who is a long-time Celtic target. (Sportal - in Italian, external)
And Celtic's asking price for Japan midfielder Reo Hatate, 28, has dropped. (Daily Record, external)
'Toughest moment of our careers' - Sinisalopublished at 19:37 BST 26 August
19:37 BST 26 August
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Celtic goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo says squandering the chance to qualify for the Champions League is "probably the toughest moment of our careers" for the squad.
Martin O'Neill's side were on the wrong end of a remarkable LASK comeback as the Austrians rallied from a four-goal deficit to inflict one of Celtic's worst-ever defeats.
Sinisalo saved an extra-time penalty to give his side a glimmer of hope in the final minutes, but they never looked likely to force penalties.
The Finland international revealed the Celtic dressing-room was a scene of shocked silence post match.
"Obviously it's raw, I'm kind of speechless," the Finland international said.
"It's very hard for me to come here and explain that. I'll try and explain it because I don't think the people coming here deserve that [result].
"Obviously it's unacceptable and we're all speechless about what's just happened.
"I walked into a changing room that was silent, together, but it's a tough moment for everyone.
"Individually and collectively, probably the toughest moment of our careers.
"The only way of getting over that is sticking together and going again on Saturday. People don't necessarily want to hear that, I would hate to be hearing that if I was a fan, but ultimately that's the reality."
Sinisalo denied Celtic were guilty of complacency after winning the first leg 3-0.
"What we've done there, we can't do anything about it any more. I don't think it's complacency, no," he added.
"They get one at a crucial time for them, which kind of shifts the momentum, and it's a funny game, football.
"I could come here and give you all sorts of explanations and ultimately, if I was a fan trying to listen to players after that, I wouldn't listen."