Martin O’Neill Dismisses Celtic Fixture Conspiracy Theories
Celtic manager Martin O’Neill has rejected suggestions that his side have “lucked out” with their post-split fixtures, shutting down claims from Rangers legend Ally McCoist that the champions are “running Scottish football.”
The SPFL’s release of the final six fixtures handed Celtic four home matches, including a final day showdown with league leaders Hearts, while Rangers must play four of their remaining six away from Ibrox. This arrangement has sparked outrage among some Rangers supporters and pundits.
Speaking on talkSPORT, McCoist fumed that Celtic had received preferential treatment. However, O’Neill offered a straightforward explanation when questioned by Jim White on the same station. “No, that’s the draw,” he responded bluntly. “Generally speaking when I was manager here before, the Celtic vs Rangers game is one that’s played relatively early in proceedings. There’s a reason why that can’t happen.”
The 74-year-old pointed to practical scheduling constraints. “I think there is some sort of march taking place in Glasgow in the early parts of the split, so the Rangers game fell into the middle. I think that’s the reason and subsequently the Hearts game falls into the last match. You would have to ask the SPFL.”
O’Neill also noted the mathematical necessity of the arrangement. “You’re talking about ‘lucking out’, we might be out of contention by that time. You never know, that’s the point. The very fact we have three at home because we need to have 19 home and 19 away games, I think that’s the only way they could have done it.”
The manager emphasised that Celtic’s narrow victory at Dundee, which left them three points behind Hearts, had kept their hopes alive. “If we lost that game you might think it’d be a long way back for us.” He acknowledged the difficulty of their remaining fixtures, including trips to Hibernian and Motherwell alongside the home encounters with Rangers and Hearts.