Defiant Martin O’Neill has denied claims that the scenes when Celtic sealed the William Hill Premiership title on Saturday shamed Scottish football as he refused to condemn supporters who invaded the pitch.
O’Neill defends Celtic celebrations
Hundreds of Celtic fans streamed on to the playing surface when Callum Osmand netted in the eighth minute of stoppage-time to put the Hoops 3-1 ahead and effectively seal the championship.
Several ran towards the crestfallen Hearts players, and the Jambos squad and staff members were swiftly escorted out of Celtic Park and back to Edinburgh amid safety concerns.
Hearts later released a statement noting “deeply disturbing reports of serious physical and verbal abuse towards our players and staff, both on the pitch and elsewhere”.
When it was put to him in an interview on talkSport on Monday that the Tynecastle club had stated that the situation had “embarrassed Scottish football”, Celtic boss O’Neill said: “As they might do. Well, I don’t believe that, I just don’t believe it, I think it’s nonsense.”
When host Jim White suggested that it had tainted the image of Scottish football, O’Neill replied: “I’m sorry, I totally disagree with that. I don’t know about the confrontations in terms of the Hearts players, and there’s a lot of hyperbole about that, let’s find out the real picture.
“The fact is that when we scored the third goal, the game was essentially over, there were about eight seconds left, or whatever the case may be. The referee has claimed that he had blown the final whistle at the end. And then there’s obvious excitement, we have scored to win the league.”
White then suggested supporters should not have come on to the pitch, to which O’Neill said: “Well, start telling that to every single football club.
“I assumed that the final whistle had gone at exactly the same moment that we put the ball in the net for the third goal. It’s a home game and we’d just won the league, and the fans have come on to the field, all right? Okay, so they should stay put then?”
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The Hoops have a knack of developing players before selling them on for big profits.
The Hoops still have a cup final to prepare for when they face Dunfermline Athletic on Saturday, but the club’s hierarchy are already putting plans in place for the summer transfer window, and have now learned the cost for one of their top January targets.
Celtic target nearly triples in price
In January, Celtic submitted a bid of around €6m (£5m) for Frosinone winger Fares Ghedjemis.
The 23 year-old rejected a move to the Premiership and has instead led his side to promotion from Serie B, with his 15 goals playing a massive part in their journey to the Italian top flight.
And if Dermot Desmond and co. are to go back in for the 23 year-old Algeria international this summer, reports in Italy now suggest his club will demand €15m (£13m).
Indeed, Frosinone ‘know that they will find it difficult to keep the attacker’ and have been backed to cash in for what would be their record sale.
Ghedjemis can play on either flank and through the middle, but is at his best cutting in from the right onto his left foot, and is known for his incredible pace.
With doubts surrounding the future of Daizen Maeda this summer, Celtic will likely need reinforcements in attack, but it remains to be seen if they believe Ghedjemis’ stunning run of form justifies his new price tag.