“I’m 74 — I Think I Could Have Scored”: Martin O’Neill’s Brutal Celtic Verdict Before Rangers Clash
Martin O’Neill was far from satisfied despite Celtic’s sixth straight league win, and his remarkable post-match comments have raised a major Camilo Durán question ahead of Sunday’s trip to Ibrox.
Phillip Cooney 
Manager Martin O'Neill of Celtic during the William Hill Premiership match at Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh 25/01/2026 ============================================= Use the following embed code to publish this image online: <smartframe-embed customer-id="e8c3ce70f1ad837bdffb21e2453272b6" image-id="XhXPFmlohbcN" style="width: 100%;display: inline-flex;max-width: 7223px;aspect-ratio: 7223/4816"></smartframe-embed> More info: at https://smartframe.io/embedding-support/
Martin O’Neill may have watched Celtic maintain their perfect Premiership start on Wednesday night, but there was little satisfaction in his assessment afterwards.
Celtic beat St Johnstone 1-0 at McDiarmid Park thanks to Mika Baur’s first goal for the club, making it six league wins from six. Yet O’Neill’s reaction told its own story.
Martin O’Neill sends Celtic a warning
Speaking after the game, O’Neill admitted Celtic had made scoring goals look “almost impossible”.
Then came the line that really summed up his frustration.
At 74 years old, O’Neill joked that even he felt he might have scored from some of the opportunities Celtic failed to convert.
It was funny, but the message underneath it was deadly serious.
Celtic cannot afford to be so wasteful when they travel to Ibrox on Sunday.
St Johnstone had a huge first-half opportunity themselves, forcing debutant goalkeeper Sam Johnstone into an excellent save. Against stronger opposition, Celtic may not get away with leaving the door open for so long.
That brings Camilo Durán firmly into the discussion.
Camilo Durán could be crucial for Celtic
O’Neill rested Durán from the starting XI after the forward had carried a significant workload during Kasper Høgh’s absence.
However, the Celtic manager specifically highlighted everything Durán contributes, both in possession and through his work without the ball.
Durán had scored three times while operating centrally during Høgh’s injury absence and also created Yang’s winner against St Mirren.
Høgh returning and getting 86 minutes at McDiarmid Park was undoubtedly positive. Celtic now have genuine competition at centre-forward again.
But O’Neill now has a fascinating decision.
Does he start Høgh at Ibrox, go back to Durán, or somehow find a system capable of accommodating both?
One thing seems certain after Wednesday night: Celtic will have to be much sharper.
O’Neill has effectively sounded the warning himself.
Winning 1-0 at St Johnstone kept Celtic’s perfect league record intact. Sunday, however, is an entirely different examination.
And after joking that a 74-year-old manager might have finished Celtic’s chances better, O’Neill will expect considerably more ruthlessness when his players walk into Ibrox.
