Soccer
Shaun Maloney gives Martin O’Neill update after taking reins for Celtic victory
Celtic assistant manager Shaun Maloney revealed his players received a major boost from a Martin O’Neill pre-match team talk before the manager continued his recovery from a medical procedure at home.
The William Hill Premiership champions recorded a 5-1 win at Kilmarnock in the absence of the 74-year-old.
But O’Neill was able to visit the team hotel to speak to his staff and players ahead of the game after an overnight stay in hospital on Wednesday.
Maloney said: “He was at the team hotel and took the team meeting, speaking to the players. Then he told the staff to get on with it.
“I’ve never experienced anything like what’s happened this week. The staff and the senior guys have been very good. I’m really pleased for the boss to get the win.
“The quicker we get him back the better. We’ll see how it goes day to day. He was much better, he was in good form when he spoke to the group.
“You know what he’s like, his only instruction was to go and win.
“We had a meeting on Saturday night and it was normal, where we went through his team selection, he picks what he thinks and he asks the staff.
“It was a boost for all of us to see him. There is a real good bond between the boss and the players.
“I’m glad he spoke to them before we left, it had a real positive impact.
“It will be up to him when he feels good enough – and if the doctors are happy then he’ll just come back in.”
O’Neill would have been buoyed by the performance of Danish striker Kasper Hogh, who got off the mark for Celtic with a first-half hat-trick.
The summer signing from Bodo/Glimt produced two close-range headers and a first-time finish before second-half goals from Benjamin Nygren and Luke McCowan rounded off an emphatic victory.
“He’s really settled in quickly,” Maloney said. “I was really impressed with his all-round game.
“Kilmarnock go man-for-man and try to press you aggressive. But everything that went up to him stuck and he was a platform for our team. The goals topped it off.
“We’ve watched him for a long, long time and we know if we create chances, he will score them.”
Celtic started with Alistair Johnston and Arne Engels, who are the subject of interest from Everton and West Ham respectively, but the Canada international went off at half-time.
“He felt something,” Maloney said about Johnston’s departure. “That was just precautionary, we hope.
“Arne was as good as I’ve seen him. It’s been hard for him in pre-season. He’s been with us the whole time and it’s not been an easy summer for him. He was really strong in wanting to put a performance on.”
Killie manager Neil McCann took responsibility for a heavy defeat after his team conceded 33 shots at goal, 16 of them on target.
McCann, whose team scored a consolation through Michael Schjonning-Larsen, said: “I’m taking responsibility. I’ve asked us to go a wee bit open and expansive and try and play. We’ve made mistakes that were severely punished.
“I felt for the first part of the game we were the better side, we were forcing things. A wee bit of quality just evaded us in the final third.”
