DOUBTING TOMAS Martin O’Neill warns fans that new Parkhead striker Tomas Cvancara will NOT provide immediate answer to Celtic’s problems up front
Martin O’Neill has warned that new striker Tomas Cvancara is not about to solve all of Celtic’s problems up front.
The Parkhead manager confirmed that the Borussia Monchengladbach forward is set to join on loan, with the champions believed to have agreed a £7million buy-out clause if he impresses across the coming five months.
O’Neill hopes the 25-year Czech international will be available for the trip to Tynecastle on Sunday, but stressed that he won’t provide all the answers to the team’s shortcomings in the final third.
‘I think it’s pretty close now,’ he said. ‘He’s undergoing his medical and things are going well. He’ll be in for the weekend game in that case.
‘He’s not a target man, believe it or not. He’s not the John Hartson type, or the type when Chris (Sutton) played alongside Henrik Larsson.
‘He’s quick, he’s agile, and he wants to prove himself. If you think he’s the immediate answer to any sort of problem we have, I’m not sure I’d throw that sort of responsibility on him.’
Martin O’Neill hopes Tomas Cvancara will join Celtic in time for Hearts clash on Sunday
O’Neill welcomes the new striker’s imminent arrival from Monchengladbach but insists he is not a John Hartson or Chris Sutton type of striker
Celtic boss Martin O’Neill during training session ahead of European clash in Bologna
Cvancara started at Jablonec, moved to Sparta Prague and signed for Monchengladbach in 2023. He spent the first half of the season in Turkey with Antalyaspor and is now looking for a fresh challenge.
‘It maybe wasn’t happening for him at his last club, but I think there were a lot of financial issues involved,’ added O’Neill.
‘But this is an opportunity for him ahead of the Czech Republic’s World Cup play-off with the Republic of Ireland. It’s an incentive for him to get back playing well. We’ve spoken with him and he’s up for the challenge, which is great and delightful.’
Celtic are understood to have made an approach to Crystal Palace for winger Jesurun Rak-Sakyi. They have also been linked with Damir Redzic, an attacker with Slovak side Dunajska Strega, and Xaver Schlager, a midfielder with RB Leipzig, but it’s believed both are seen as back-up options to other targets.
Speaking in Bologna ahead of Thursday night’s Europa League clash, O’Neill suggested it was unlikely there would be other signings ahead of the Hearts game.
‘We don’t get back until Friday and, until then, our focus will be on this game,’ he said. ‘We have some other things that could materialise, but nothing I would guarantee.
‘Anyway, we would have very little time to integrate any new player into the squad in terms of training sessions. But don’t hold me to that. We are working really hard to get players in. And you want people in who are as good as some of the players we have, if not better. Players who can help the squad.
‘I could bring another eight players in this minute but they may not get a game. That’s not really all that clever.’
O’Neill says he still has suspicions about his first European game on Italian soil when Chris Sutton and Co lost 3-2 to Juventus in Champions League in 2001
The Celtic boss claims a Parkhead side featuring Henrik Larsson, above, lost a dodgy penalty in the European clash
O’Neill, shown watching the 2001 match from the sidelines, now admits that the final result never sat well with him
O’Neill, who reported no fresh injury concerns, insisted that he won’t prioritise the Hearts match as he ponders his team selection for Bologna.
Asked if he understood those who felt the Premiership game was the priority, he said: ‘I wouldn’t disagree with you. But I think we owe it to the 3,000 fans who have travelled here. We owe it to the football club and to the competition.
‘It would be lovely to be going into this game where you’ve actually qualified. But we’ll probably need four points. Three might do it, but it might be tight with our goal difference. The Roma result at home didn’t help.’
Meanwhile, O’Neill admitted he still has suspicions about the way his first European game in Italian soil ended.
In 2001, Celtic were drawing 2-2 with Juventus when the Italians were awarded a highly dubious penalty after Nicola Amoruso went down under minimal contact from Joos Valgaeren.
Admitting the decision never sat well with him, O’Neill reflected on Juve’s relegation as punishment for their part in the Calciopoli scandal in 2006.
‘Do I still think back on that game? Indeed I do,’ he said. ‘It has irked me ever since.
‘I think of my post-match press conference and that rant I had that night.
‘No, that night was just crap because that point would have been enough to see us through. We would have got ten points in the group.
‘The very fact they were demoted about two years later tells you something. Do I have my suspicions of that game? Of course. I always have suspicions about matches I lose! Particularly at Ibrox! No, I’m joking there.
‘But, yeah, I have my suspicions about that night in Italy. It was really, really poor.’
