MARTIN O’NEILL admitted Celtic have “a fair idea of what we need to do” on the transfer front following an unconvincing display in the 2-0 Scottish Cup Fourth Round win over Auchinleck Talbot at Rugby Park last night.
Goals from Johnny Kenny and Sebastian Tounekti got the job done in a workmanlike showing to set up a last-16 tie with Dundee at Parkhead next month.
But it was a slog for the champions against battling part-time sixth-tier opponents in a performance that was laced with missed chances and sequences of awful passing and crossing.
CONCERNED…Martin O’Neill views the Celtic performance at Rugby Park.
Only captain Callum McGregor kept his place in the starting line-up from the team that won 1-0 at Falkirk in midweek.
Fringe players such as Kenny, Michel-Ange Balikwisha, Dane Murray, Viljami Sinisalo and comeback Bhoy Stephen Welsh were given the ideal opportunity to impress the interim manager.
Fans chanted “sign a player” as they let everyone know what they thought of what they were witnessing on an evening to forget for soccer purists.
Stern-faced O’Neill said: “It would have been nice to put on a great performance. I was very concerned about the game – but that’s how I’ve spent the last 30 years.
“We should have played much better. I’m not so sure I learned much more than I knew before.”
Asked yet again if the club were closer to signings, O’Neill, speaking to the BBC, at least managed to smile when he answered: “I do dread this question.
“We are making some progress and, hopefully, we will get the players in before the end of the season.”
A MAN ALONE…Martin O’Neill cuts a pensive figure as Celtic toil in Scottish Cup win.
Looking at the overall performance, the 73-year-old Irishman, who has now won all nine of his domestic outings over his two stints in this campaign, added: “We made 10 changes.
“A couple of lads who played did not feature for me at all in the first spell, such as Michel-Ange Balikwisha and Paulo Bernardo.
“It was a matter of trying to see what they could do.
“We’ve a fair idea of what we need to do in the window and I want to get on with it.”
The transfer window closes in a fortnight’s time.
The clock is ticking…
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