Celtic manager Martin O'Neill says he will 'reflect' amid questions over future after Rangers defeat

Ryan Naderi’s 33rd-minute strike for Rangers earned them a vital Premiership victory and inflicted a first league loss upon the champions. Celtic still sit top, two points clear of their Glasgow rivals, but the result came on the back of being beaten 3-1 at Ibrox last weekend in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-finals and then falling 3-1 at home to Ferencvaros in the Europa League.

The downturn in results and performance levels have led to some supporters questioning whether O’Neill is the right man to spark an upturn in fortunes. And with a three-week international break coming up, the 74-year-old admitted he would take stock on the situation.

“Well, I think they're absolutely entitled [to question],” said O’Neill on the supporters. “I mentioned this to you on Friday, absolutely entitled to, of course. And I'm not immune from criticism. Far from it. Absolutely and utterly far from it.

“I think there's every reason to ask, you know, can you turn this round? Can you change the whole thing? We are, as I said, two points clear, so I have to kind of look at the bigger picture at this minute. But I knew that we were in a big, big fight anyway, with both ourselves, Rangers, and Hearts again, who are far from out of anything.

“It's a long season ahead. It's not the first time I've been questioned about my managerial time. So, yeah, I'll have a look at it. I will reflect and see.

“I genuinely will reflect and see. It's a matter of whether I can help the team. If that's the case, that's the manager’s supposed to be able to do that. And, yeah, I will have a look at that there this week.

“I think that every single time that something crops up, things don't go so well, age plays a part. And you know what? They may well be right, you know? I'm 110 in two years' time, so, yeah, that might be a time to wrap it up.

“I will reflect on the games. I'll obviously speak to the board. And, you never know, they may want to speak to me. But, yeah, I'll see. I've got some time to do that there. I got a short break in the summer time. So I will try and get a couple of days away and see how it goes.”

‘I’ll have a look at that - we’ll see’

Asked to elaborate on his “wrap it up” comment and whether he had thought of doing that, O’Neill answered: “Well, first of all, let me put it, let me generalise a little bit. First of all, I got an opportunity to come back here last October, which I never thought would ever happen in my life. So I'm really grateful for that.

“And then I get the chance again in January to do it again, second time around and, as it turns out, us winning the league was like ... I don't know. I can't remember how, when we won the treble away back in 2001, I can't remember how I felt.

“I must have felt really pretty good about it, but I think that game against Hearts was probably one of the great moments of my managerial time. I've had some really, really good moments and I've had some pretty poor moments.

“So, yeah. So when that was good, I'm thankful for that. I was delighted to get that opportunity.

“But all the time I was still even thinking about, you know, whether you can still have the energy, desire, the things that I say to the boys here every Friday that we talk about. So I'll have a look at that. We'll see.”

On the game itself and the recent run of defeats in big games, O’Neill admitted that it “didn’t feel great” and continued: “I thought obviously a tough game. I thought it was tough for both sides. There wasn't much in it between the two teams but from our own point of view I don't think we created enough during the course of the 90 odd minutes of the game.

“I think Kieran Tierney hits the bar and then within 90 seconds or two minutes later they score. Maybe we could have got a goal just after half-time but in essence at home, regardless of who you're playing, you should try and create a bit more.

“I cannot honestly question the effort of the side, not at all. I said that in the dressing room. What we did do, sometimes we get into really good positions and either the final ball or the lead-up to it was just misplaced. I think that's something that we can definitely improve on.”