O'Neill Admits New Celtic Signings Are Struggling Under Club Pressure

Celtic manager Martin O'Neill has admitted that his summer signings are struggling to cope with the demands and pressure of playing for the Glasgow club. The admission comes after Celtic suffered a disappointing 2-0 defeat against Falkirk on Sunday, missing an opportunity to extend their lead at the top of the Premiership table.

First-half goals from Ethan Ross and Scott Tanser secured the victory for Falkirk. Despite dominating possession and creating numerous chances in the second half, Celtic were unable to find the back of the net against Falkirk goalkeeper Scott Bain.

When questioned about whether new members of his squad were finding it difficult to meet the club's expectations, O'Neill stated, "Absolutely. You have to cope with the pressure to be a player." He referenced a sentiment from former Celtic figure Tommy Burns, suggesting it might be easier to play against Celtic than for the club. O'Neill, however, expressed hope that the squad possesses enough experienced winners to navigate these challenges.

"When you ask managers sometimes you think the best team is the one that has won convincingly, but there are a number of players who have arrived," O'Neill said. "You can think someone is doing well in training but the only place to find where players fit is out there."

O'Neill acknowledged the team's defensive lapses that led to Falkirk's two goals but found encouragement in the team's attacking performance. "I’m naturally disappointed to have lost the game," he stated. "We had a lot of chances. Their goalie was magnificent but naturally we’ve lost so I’m very disappointed. The goals were very poor from our viewpoint. We didn’t clear it for the first one then we let someone run through and pick his spot for the second. We had some really great chances we just weren’t able to convert."

He added that while the team had chances to equalize, goalkeeper Bain's performance was outstanding. "Despite mistakes at the back we had enough chances to get back," O'Neill noted. "We have conceded some poor goals and haven’t kept a clean sheet for some time which is the essence of a championship team, but we’re still top and we need to address it and that’s the way out of it."

Despite the recent dip in form, which has seen six defeats in their last 10 matches across all competitions, Celtic remains at the top of the league. O'Neill pointed to a recent 7-0 victory over Hearts as evidence of the team's potential. "We scored seven against Hearts which isn’t that long ago. I just thought the goalie had a magnificent game and we should have scored a number in each half. When you don’t it becomes frustrating. We have to address that we were conceding. Hopefully we can still do that. It’s still a long season."

The manager stressed the importance of upcoming fixtures, including a Europa League match against Besiktas and a significant league game before the international break, as opportunities to address these issues and secure wins. "We were in a much worse position this time last year so we have to buckle down and win a game and win a game in Europe. Thursday [against Besiktas in the Europa League] is a big game and then the following Sunday is massive before we go into the international break. We need to sort out a few things."