Martin O’Neill insists Celtic are willing to splash the cash in the final few days of the transfer window as he targets three new signings.
Despite the obvious need for strengthening this month, the Parkhead club have so far only secured loan deals for Julian Araujo and Tomas Cvancara.
With the deadline for new additions coming at 11pm on Monday night, many supporters now fear the club will miss another opportunity to spent some of the £77million which was sitting in the bank in the last accounts.
O’Neill, however, shot down any suggestion that the board were reluctant to open the purse strings, and expressed a confidence that he will get what he needs in the right time frame.
‘First of all, you need to get players,’ he said. ‘Who is to say we might not spend money? There is a willingness.
‘I think we’ll get some in. I think we’ll do as much as we can to get players in.
O’Neill trusts the Celtic hierarchy to give him the money he will need for new signings
Tomas Cvancara is one of only two loan signings to have joined Celtic this month
Julian Araujo, above, was the first arrival of January, when Wilfried Nancy was still in charge
‘Trust me on this one. There is not a division. I’m trying to see what we can get.’
Explaining why no players have yet arrived on permanent deals, O’Neill added: ‘If you have a set of players that you think, this is it, this is your A list, and there’s a B list, I’m not so sure that you want to be going down to an F list, which stands for a lot of things, you know.
‘So, I don’t really want that. I can get some people in. There’s some things that you thought: ”Yeah, that’s really good and looks great” and 25 minutes later something changes like a price or somebody else comes in. Or, believe it or not, clubs with bigger assets in that sense. But Celtic is Celtic. I’m still very hopeful.’
Asked how many players were on the various lists of potential recruits, O’Neill said: ‘We’ve got quite a number, really, quite a number.
‘Really, it would be foolish to focus on one or two and then be thwarted at the last minute. So, we have a number and most of them I think are of decent quality.’
The veteran boss was pressed on whether he would like three or four players arriving before the deadline, as has been widely reported.
‘Oh gosh, you’ve asked me so many questions, why don’t we go with just what you said,’ he smiled. ‘We’ll go, let’s go with it, let’s go for three.’
Asked if he would be content with three, he replied: ‘In certain positions, yeah.’
Celtic boss O’Neill is unhappy with what he claims is VAR re-refereeing football matches
O’Neill has a look at his players during training session ahead of Euro clash with Utrecht
Meanwhile, O’Neill has reiterated his belief that VAR is now re-refereeing football matches.
Auston Trusty saw his yellow card at Tynecastle on Sunday upgraded to a red by referee Steven McLean after VAR John Beaton suggested he review the incident on his pitch-side monitor.
Speaking after Trusty lost his appeal to the SFA, O’Neill said: ‘I think that VAR have intervened on a situation where the referee gave a yellow card..
‘Where I saw it, from my angle, it is not great at the end of the day, it could have been a red card.
‘It is in the dressing room when I see it back, okay, the ball is going away and (Liam) Scales is getting back to cover and the referee is giving a yellow card.
‘I think there was a decision at Man City and Wolves where the referee was sent over and said: “No, not for me”. That was kind of brave, that was good.
‘My only feeling about VAR is that it is actually refereeing games now. I just don’t know what the rules are anymore. But it is absolutely nothing at all to do with the referees.’
O’Neill is having to balance domestic and European football at a difficult time for the club
Araujo, left, and Cvancara, centre, make their presence felt at training session on Wednesday
O’Neill also defended Mark Fotheringham after Hearts boss Derek McInnes admitted he was irked by the conduct of one of Celtic’s ‘less experienced’ coaches during Sunday’s match.
McInnes ended up in the visiting dug-out after Celtic’s opening goal, apparently upset at something that was said.
‘He was obviously being rather cynical, Derek,’ said O’Neill. ‘But Derek will say exactly the same as I am now, that Hearts got a good decision.
‘I think we were more concerned about pointing to one of our inexperienced coaches, which happened to be young Fotheringham. Mark is not inexperienced. Mark’s record as a manager and assistant manager, in Germany, is extraordinary. He and Felix Magath. They saved a club from relegation.’
