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By GARY KEOWN Published: 09: 30 AEDT, 11 January 2026 | Updated: 09: 30 AEDT, 11 January 2026 3 View comments Celtic manager Martin O’Neill has made it clear that a four-goal hammering of Dundee United changes nothing in terms of the desperate need to bring in new signings. Goals from Yang Hyun-jun, Arne Engels, substitute Benjamin Nygren and Daizen Maeda got the Northern Irishman’s third stint at the helm of the champions off to a flying start at Parkhead and moved them three points behind league leaders Hearts having played a game more. However, O’Neill reiterated the need to get new players in the door ASAP in addition to revealing that he plans to talk with Japanese forward Maeda over the course of the coming week in a bid to convince him to stay at the club. Celtic are known to be in negotiations to sign £2m-rated Ivorian winger Jocelin Ta Bi from Israeli outfit Maccabi Netanya, but O’Neill clearly wants to see more through the door with a centre-forward a priority. ‘It's not changed to me. Not at all, ’ he said. ‘We need some people in. ‘Honestly, we are working on it. It doesn't seem as if you believe me, but we're actually working on it. ‘I am hopeful that we are going to get some people in, but just when you think that something might happen, things change around. O'Neill gives Maeda a hand after substituting the Japanese forward Maeda had netted Celtic's fourth goal of the day just three minutes before being taken off ‘Listen, it's not me filibustering. It's just me feeling that, until they're over the line, I can't come up and say that it's happened. We obviously need to do it, even just to give help to the boys at present. ‘From here on in, we go right through now to I don't know how long, going midweek each time. So there'll be no respite. If we pick up injuries to really key players here, we could be in serious trouble. ’ On the subject of sitting down with Maeda, who saw a move to Germans Wolfsburg fall through in the summer, O’Neill added: ‘I will do now that we've got a couple of days, you know, on Monday and Tuesday. ‘I would hope that he'd stay at the football club. I'm fearful of saying something to you here and finding out maybe three days later something else has happened. But no, I wouldn't want to lose him. ’ O’Neill handed a debut against United to loan signing Julian Araujo and has urged the Mexican right-back to learn his lessons after escaping with a yellow card from a late first-half tackle that left Will Ferry grounded. ‘I haven’t seen the challenge again, ’ said O’Neill, whose side travel to Falkirk on Wednesday. ‘He’s got to learn. I get concerned when someone stays down. I think there was a feeling the lad was milking it, but he wasn’t. He was limping afterwards. ’ Visiting manager Jim Goodwin also felt the tackle deserved greater attention from VAR Andrew Dallas. ‘For me, it was kind of a dangerous tackle if I'm being honest, ’ said Goodwin. ‘He looked as if he was a little bit out of control and he's certainly caught Will Ferry a little bit high on the ankle. Will is feeling the effects of that after the game. ‘It didn't seem that VAR spent too much time looking at it. When you come to a place like this with Celtic playing the way they were at the time, you need those types of decisions to go in your favour. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Benjamin Nygren celebrates after netting his 11th goal of the season for Celtic Yang (left) was also on the scoresheet as Celtic bounced back to winning ways in style ‘I think the biggest disappointment for us is the manner of the goals. When we watched them back and analysed them, I think they're so avoidable. ‘I'm not trying to sit here and say we deserved anything because I thought Celtic were really good. ’ O’Neill, meanwhile, warned his players not to rest on their laurels – because things are highly unlikely to be plain sailing through to the end of the season. ‘There'll be plenty more turmoil between now and the end of the season, ’ he smiled. ‘Don't get carried away. ’ Asked why he cut a muted figure at his side’s goals, O’Neill quipped: ‘I just get worried. First of all, I'm getting old and therefore I can't jump as high. And I'm frightened in case I fall down and embarrass myself. ‘Well, it's part of it. No, it is the part of it. I have made a fool of myself on plenty of occasions. ‘I thought we played really well. It was nice to see players performing well, playing with confidence, and it was just nice to win. ’ Araujo has detailed the importance of having O’Neill’s hand back on the tiller after the ‘crazy situation’ of seeing Wilfried Nancy sacked shortly after he signed on loan from Bournemouth. ‘He’s a legend at the club. I knew, for sure, what he means to this club, ’ he said. ‘I think he’s very similar to what my national team manager’s like. He’s very simple and about the basics, but everybody knows he gives you that confidence. ‘He puts you under a lot of pressure because he knows what your capabilities are, so I think he is good for the club. ’
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