Martin O’Neill has remarked that Danny Rohl “hasn’t been in Glasgow long” and described it as “extraordinary” that the German weighed in on who will start in goal for Sunday’s pivotal Old Firm derby.Rangers meet Celtic on Sunday in the first of two derby encounters within seven days, with both teams currently sitting second and third in the standings behind Hearts.The exchange was sparked after Luke McCown declared that “no team in the league touches us” following Celtic’s 1-0 win in Stuttgart, the return leg after a 4-1 loss at home.
Danny Rohl fired back by highlighting that Celtic have suffered seven defeats in the Scottish Premiership this season, including losses to Rangers, Hearts, Hibs and Dundee United.
The Rangers boss also admitted he was “surprised” Celtic did not push harder in Germany and suggested it would be “interesting” to see how the goalkeeping situation unfolds after Kasper Schmeichel was replaced by Viljami Sinisalo for Thursday’s Europa League fixture.O’Neill, who stood by Schmeichel after the goalkeeper was jeered by sections of the support during last week’s defeat to Stuttgart, responded sharply to Rohl’s remarks, branding them “extraordinary”.
“So he’s picking our team, well done, old Danny, well done”, he said.
“He had a comment about our team, the picking of the team. Extraordinary. Absolutely extraordinary.
“Luke’s entitled to his comments, believe it or not.
“He hasn’t been in Glasgow long. He’s only been in for less than a year, himself. He’ll soon know all about it in the next four or five years.“I must sit down and think, maybe he has a choice of some players, and maybe I can put my oar in there, you know, and find out what he’s doing.”
When asked about Rohl’s claim that Celtic “didn’t try and win the game two or three-nil” against Stuttgart, O’Neill admitted he was “surprised”.
“He wants to be involved in some of these games”, he said.
“I never saw it like that. We were driven back because they are a very, very good team; they are in the top four in the Bundesliga.
“I’m surprised he’s made a comment like that.“He possesses a very decent team over there, and it’s going to be tough for us to get a result, but we’re going to be fighting.”