O'Neill takes responsibility with nowhere to hide for Celtic

What the report says

Celtic manager Martin O'Neill accepted responsibility after his side suffered a damaging Champions League qualifying defeat to LASK in Austria, describing the team as still far from the finished article. The Scottish champions had led by four goals on aggregate before collapsing in the second half and losing 5-4 overall at the Raiffeisen Arena. BBC Sport reported that the result added to a difficult recent European record for Celtic and left them with no route into the Champions League proper.

O'Neill said the defeat was deeply disappointing and stressed that qualifying for the competition matters both financially and in terms of prestige. He added that the club now had to recover quickly, including for the rest of the transfer window, after missing out on the expected boost from reaching the tournament. The manager said it was his job to help steady the group again, while also acknowledging that the team had fallen well short, especially after the break.

Captain Callum McGregor was similarly critical, saying Celtic had been passive and did not show enough desire to win the game. He apologised to supporters and said the players could not look for excuses. Former Celtic figures Scott Brown, Neil Lennon and Stiliyan Petrov, speaking in BBC and Amazon Prime coverage, also argued that LASK were stronger physically and that Celtic were left to answer serious questions about their readiness at this level.