O'Neill can't understand those with a grievance remaining anonymous and admits he found it 'really disappointing'

Martin O'Neill insists it took guts for the Celtic board to face the music in Greenock. But he was disappointed some angry fans chose to hide behind masks.

The Celtic boss decided to tag along for Monday night’s supporters club meeting where fans got the chance to grill chief executive Michael Nicholson and co.

It was a chance for the gaffer to get a feel for the mood music around the club and he wasn’t surprised to hear some of the gripes aimed at the folk in charge.

He was a little taken aback through but the protest that met the officials on the way in though – with around 25 balaclava clad protesters outside the venue.

O’Neill is building toward Besiktas tonight but he can’t ignore the drama around the club at present.

He said: "Some managers would probably want to run a mile from that idea of how angry his fans are.

"Well, I think when things are going really well at the football club, you can take all the plaudits and all that you want. At the end of the day, there are bad times and I think that you should face up to that.

"Was everything answered by the board and myself to their satisfaction? You’d have to ask the people there at the time what was there.

"There was no shouting. It wasn't like the (abandoned) AGM last year. The shouting had taken place before the meeting, you know? I mean, you are aware that people with balaclavas come up to the thing.

”To me, I think that was the saddest thing. Would I have ever, in any day, ever thought that Celtic fans would be clothed in balaclavas before a meeting?

"Even if they were disapproving of what was happening. I think that's really disappointing. I do (find it hard to get my head round that kind of stuff). I do, honestly. I do.

"I think if you've got a dispute or something, I think you should be brave enough to show your face to doing it. I don't know whether they expected me to be there or not, but it doesn't really matter. It was just regardless of who was there.

"But the meeting itself was robust, strong, strong questioning, hopefully some answers that would maybe quell if not satisfy, or whatever the case may be. And I don't know what the overall picture would be. But, yeah, I was pleased to have gone.”

O’Neill had clocked up the miles this week. Greenock on Monday then Dingwall on Tuesday to watch the B team – that included Joel van den Berg, Shim Mheuka and Landon Emenalo – go down to Ross County.

It’s all part of the gig he insisted. He knows, however, the big priority is sorting out Celtic on the pitch and must of his time in recent days has been searching for solutions.

O’Neill needs to find them sharpish with Celtic in a thick of a wretched run of form with just three wins from 10 games.

Besiktas won’t be any easier. O’Neill said: “I honestly think it’s everything.

“During my managerial time, I have naturally spent more time concerned over defeats rather than wins. When you win, you think everything is great. But sometimes you are papering over come cracks.

“Then when you lose a game you think about all sorts of things. I thought more about how we were leading against Dundee United and dropped points at home, rather than Falkirk when I thought we created a lot of changes and the goalkeeper was really good.

“But naturally, when you lose a game or two, you start to consider all sorts of things. Some things you may not have considered before.

"Whatever changes they make to the game, you have the defenders to be able to defend. You've got a full-backs whose first job to think about stopping crosses from coming in. And then when they want to come and join in and be something,

“You need your attacking midfield players on the half-turn, making something happen. Don't be playing it back all day long. I could do that. I could do that.

“You need your centre forwards to get hold of the ball. That's something that Brian Clough preached.

“He didn’t care whether the centre forwards scored the goals, as long as they held the ball up and played people into the game.”

O’Neill has domestic problems but Europe has been torturous so far, with the Champions League collapse to LASK and three defeats to start the Europa campaign.

Celtic can still qualify for the knockout stages but they are already need snookers and another sore one could leave them at the bottom of the table and out on their backsides with half the fixtures still to play.

It’s last chance saloon and O’Neill admitted his side are up against it again this evening. He said: “These games are really hard for us. I think, honestly, I think they're difficult.

“I think there are teams in the Europa League who are capable of playing in the Champions League and getting results in the Champions League at this minute. However, we're in the Europa League.

“We haven't got a point on the board. We're going to try and do something about it if we can on Thursday and then ask the question.

“I think that no-one has ever lost the first three and qualified for the competition. So, we’ll be up against it.

“We're definitely up against it. But are we capable? Yeah, I have to believe that.

“I've watched Besiktas. I didn't get an opportunity until after Sunday's game. But we've had people watching them, both live and on television.

“They are a real handful - no question. I didn't realise this until I started watching that the centre-forward (Oh) that used to be here.

“I don't know whether he has a point to prove or we have a point to prove.”