Chris Sutton, who played under O’Neill during the manager’s first spell at the club, was deeply unimpressed by what he saw.
“It wasn’t a close game,” he said on Sky Sports. “There was a massive gulf. I can’t remember a Celtic team getting such a doing from a Rangers team at Celtic Park.
“Rangers were a team and Celtic weren’t. They knew their next pass and Celtic didn’t. Rangers were better in every department. They were smashed and that’s the concern.
“They have big problems, some self-inflicted. They’ve lacked legs and physicality in the middle of the park. This has been a big issue all season. Callum McGregor’s another year older, can’t get about the pitch like he used to.
“Martin will have to come up with something. I loved him as a manager when I was at the club. He is getting on a bit but, as a guy, I still think he has the fight for it.”
That sentiment is shared by Sutton’s former team-mate, Neil Lennon, who knows O’Neill better than most and who also knows how heavily the mantle of Celtic manager can weigh.
“He’s hurting, he’s smarting about it,” Lennon said on Sky Sports. “He’d want to find the answers. The break’s come at a good time for him – recuperate, get some sun and re-think about the whole thing. He still feels he’s got the energy to do it.”
“When you get a week like this – not only defeats but the manner of the defeats – he knows himself more than anyone there’s going to be a lot of scrutiny, criticism and introspection.”
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