MARTIN O’NEILL admitted he could understand the frustration of the Celtic fans as they demonstrated their displeasure at the end of the miserable 3-1 Europa League defeat from Ferencavros at Parkhead last night.
It was another error-strewn performance from the champions following the dire exhibition at Ibrox on Sunday as they exited the Premier Sports League Cup.
On that occasion, three efforts flew past Sam Johnstone, making only his second appearance following his season-long loan move from Wolves.
The restored Viljami Sinisalo was the man on the receiving end last night as the Hungarians crammed three goals into his net.
HEAD-SCRATCHER…a puzzled-looking Martin O’Neill after more European woe.
Alarmingly, the Hoops have now conceded EIGHT goals in their last two European outings following the 5-1 thrashing in Austria from LASK to topple out of the Champions League.
Fed-up followers began leaving Celtic Park some 15 to 20 minutes before the end of the latest unconvincing offering, but O’Neill is eager to turn their jeers into cheers in the derby against Derek McInne’s Govan club on Sunday.
The veteran team chief said: “I’ve been here 20/25 years ago, where the crowd can react like that. So, it’s genuinely nothing new to me.
“At the end of it all, I think that they were showing a lot of frustration. There are times when we had the ball, we look as if we were going forward, the next thing you know, we put two passes backwards.
“So, those things definitely frustrate you and that’s something we’ll have to try and iron out.”
O’Neill, speaking to BBC Sportsound, continued: “Sometimes we need a bit more urgency.
“We can take more risks and eventually you get your rewards. I still feel we can score goals, but confidence is an amazing thing.
NET LOSS…Viljami Sinisalo suffers after third Ferencavros goal.
“After a couple of games, it can drop so quickly. There are a lot of things we can improve on, including retention of the ball.
“We have been giving the ball away when there is no need to, but I want us to thrust forward and regain confidence.”
“Sunday becomes a massive game for us now. The crowd will be with us and that will be important.”
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