Martin O'Neill said Rangers' offer of 300 tickets for Celtic's League Cup quarter-final at Ibrox next month is so small he would rather take none at all. Both clubs must play their next Scottish Cup home games behind closed doors after crowd disorder following Celtic's penalty shootout win in last season's Scottish Cup quarter-final at Ibrox.
The ticket row at Ibrox
O'Neill's line was plain enough. "We might as well not get any, if that's the case," he said, after stressing that the derby is at its best when away fans are inside it.
He also pointed to the scale of the fixture. "Even if the teams are not of the standard of, let's say, Paris St-Germain or Real Madrid, it is still a fantastic fixture," he said. And on the atmosphere, he added: "the best atmosphere is when the away fans have their allocation."
That view sits against the backdrop of the sanctions from last season's Scottish Cup quarter-final, when crowd disorder brought the closed-door punishments. Around 8,000 visiting supporters were at that tie, around four times as many away fans as recent Premiership meetings between Celtic and Rangers.
Deadline pressure and squad gaps
The ticket row was not the only thing O'Neill spoke about. He said he is still hopeful Celtic can do something in the transfer market before Thursday's 17:00 BST deadline, and he added that if they want to defend their title and get something in the Europa League, they need "a bit more strength in depth."
Scott Brown made the same basic point from a different angle, saying Celtic need "a powerhouse in the middle of the park, especially in Europe." He also said Falkirk showed up a gap when Kieran Tierney picked up another injury issue against them, while Marcelo Saracchi's exit left no obvious alternative at left-back.
Brown's praise for Luke McCowan was more immediate. McCowan was welcomed off the bench against Falkirk with an ovation, and Brown said, "I thought the fans were good today," before adding, "I liked what they did when McCowan came on."
McCowan's 7.12 average rating across 3 appearances this season is not the number of a settled starter, but it does back up the sense that he has made a clean early impression. Celtic have also won their last 5 listed matches, so the pressure here is less about results than about whether the squad looks ready for the week ahead.
O'Neill's main point still lands hardest. He was not asking for a perfect solution, just a proper away end, and the 300-ticket offer was the part he rejected most forcefully.
Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
