NafisaMartin O’Neill has poured even more fuel onto the raging controversy surrounding Celtic’s dramatic title-clinching victory over Hearts after launching into a furious live TV rant that has left Hearts and Rangers fans absolutely stunned.
The Celtic manager, speaking during a heated appearance on TalkSport Radio following the explosive scenes at Parkhead, fiercely defended the pitch invasion that followed Callum Osmand’s late title-winning goal and appeared to dismiss much of the outrage coming from Hearts and rival supporters.
The dramatic final day clash had already sparked huge debate across Scottish football after hundreds of Celtic supporters stormed the pitch moments after Osmand sealed a 3-1 victory which handed the Hoops a fifth straight Premiership title.
Hearts players were quickly escorted from the field amid safety concerns, with the Edinburgh club later releasing a furious statement condemning the scenes as “shameful”, “deeply disturbing” and “unacceptable”, while confirming reports of alleged physical and verbal abuse directed at players and staff.
Celtic themselves later issued an apology to Hearts for the chaos that unfolded after full-time, admitting the scenes detracted from the occasion and promising to cooperate fully with ongoing investigations.
But O’Neill’s latest comments have now completely reignited the firestorm.
Asked directly whether the pitch invasion reflected badly on Celtic and damaged the club’s image, the 74-year-old immediately pushed back and refused to accept the criticism being aimed at supporters.
“I’m sorry, I totally disagree with that,” O’Neill blasted during the interview.
The Celtic boss went on to question the narrative surrounding the confrontation involving Hearts players, insisting there was “a lot of hyperbole” around the situation and demanding people wait for the “real picture” before rushing to judgment.
“The fact is that when we scored the third goal, the game was essentially over,” O’Neill insisted. “There were about eight seconds left, or whatever the case may be.”
He then defended the emotional reaction from Celtic supporters after what he described as an extraordinary title-winning moment.
“And then there’s obvious excitement, we have scored to win the league.”
As interviewer Jim White suggested fans should never have entered the pitch, O’Neill doubled down even further in comments that have now exploded online among rival supporters.
“Well, start telling that to every single football club.”
The veteran manager also appeared to indirectly undermine Celtic’s own official apology by strongly rejecting Hearts’ description of the scenes as an embarrassment to Scottish football.
“I didn’t believe” the Hearts statement, O’Neill said, before branding the criticism “nonsense.”
“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 onto the field, alright? Okay, so they should stay put then?”
O’Neill then referenced previous pitch invasions elsewhere in Scottish football, including scenes at Ibrox, suggesting Celtic were being unfairly singled out over incidents that have happened before.
“Was there not a scene at Ibrox where both sets of fans came onto the pitch?”
The comments have immediately triggered fierce backlash online, particularly from Hearts and Rangers supporters, many of whom accused O’Neill of dismissing serious safety concerns and escalating tensions even further after Celtic had already attempted to calm the situation with their public apology.
With Police Scotland and football authorities still reviewing the Parkhead chaos, O’Neill’s explosive defence of the incident has now ensured the fallout from Celtic’s dramatic title win is only becoming even more toxic by the day.
Nafisa
