O’Neill admitted the ongoing civil war could be having an impact on the squad.
Celtic fans invade the pitch to celebrate after Celtic captain Callum McGregor scored
Martin O’Neill admits the off-the-field fan fury isn’t helping the Hoops on the pitch.
Callum McGregor fired at stoppage time stunner to snatch three points against St Mirren last night.
Interim boss O’Neill admitted his side got out of jail as the skipper sparked wild celebrations in the away end.
The party at the death in Paisley came after 90 minutes of anger from the away end aimed at the board in the wake of Friday’s AGM fiasco.
And O’Neill admitted the civil war could be having an impact on the squad.
He said: “That’s a good point. I probably don’t think so. But I’m not sure. When it was a continuation of not really supporting the team tonight. It was “sack the board” the whole way through.
“I think there’s perhaps just an element that… I’m not saying it’s going to affect Daizen Maeda who probably wouldn’t know what ‘sack the board’ is. But I don’t think it’ll help.
They paid their money, they came here tonight. And obviously the scenes at the end were terrific in that sense.”
O’Neill is hoping peace can break out and he said: “We just need some sort of unification again.
“Naturally delighted to get the three points, whatever the case may be. I think every little bit helps. I think it helps.
“It was great to win. Results are everything. I told the players in the dressing room, have a look at the video on Monday. No problem at all.
“Look at the things that we didn’t do well. That would be a long evening, but it’s just great to win. We didn’t play well tonight, but we do have a decent enough spirit on the table.
“That comes from the captain.
“It was just an extraordinary goal really for him. There are signs there. The fans obviously love McGregor anyway. And rightly so for what he’s done at the football club. I think some sort of unification would be great and not too distant.”
Celts slashed the gap at the top to Hearts to four points with the Jambos in action today.
McGregor bailed out the side – and was hailed by the stand-in boss.
O’Neill said: “It was massive. Absolutely massive. It was a great goal from a great player.
“The game was obviously heading for a draw. I’m not so sure that we deserved any more than that. He scored a fabulous goal.
“Strangely enough, I thought he moved it out of his feet just at the edge of the box and thought he could hit this.
“So it was a great goal. Maybe it didn’t belong with the game, but it was just great to win.
“To win when you haven’t played well in a match is obviously terrific. I remember that from a time before.
“To win in that manner just at the end of the game was great, but I don’t think it was what St Mirren deserved.
Martin O’Neill arrives at the SMISA Stadium(Image: PA)
“It was one of those nights. You’ve got to have to dig in.
“What is needed? We need a better performance than tonight for a start. “Naturally, I’m delighted we won because if we had played really, really well and got beaten tonight, then it’s just a host of frustrations. We’ve just got to be better. We’ve got to be better with the ball and play the game accordingly.”
Celtic are edging closer to appointing a new boss with Columbus Crew coach Wilfried Nancy in pole position.
O’Neill will remain in position until the deal is done and could be in the dugout for Thursday’s Europa League trip to Holland to face Feyenoord.
He said: “The answer is I genuinely do not know. I thought it might have been sorted out at the break I would have assumed.
“This is Saturday night. They’ve got Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Otherwise, there’s a plane that goes to Rotterdam on Wednesday“
“They better make their minds up very quickly.”