Celtic boss Martin O'Neill right to move on from Cameron Carter-Vickers spat
Martin O'Neill has clearly moved on from his all too public spat with Cameron Carter-Vickers. The defender sparked mass criticism after questioning Celtic's approach on the back of the second Old Firm defeat before the international break.
Carter-Vickers claimed Celtic's approach was 'random', calling for a clearer script to stick to amid a rocky run of form, and many took exception to his public comments.
O'Neill was one of them, and he too responded publicly, claiming that an off-script approach has worked previously, so there is no reason why it can't work now.
Carter-Vickers has been out through a muscular strain since then, but he made his return off the bench during Sunday's 2-1 win over Hibernian.
It didn't seem as though Carter-Vickers was in line to come on, but after Alistair Johnston came off the bench and then had to come back off, he was thrust into the action.
The USMNT international provided an important goal-line block to help Celtic to their away win, and unlike the unfortunate Johnston, he seemed to come through the cameo without any setbacks.
“Really satisfying, absolutely," O'Neill said of Carter-Vickers' return. "Big block for us as well, too, because it’s goal-bound.”
“I think that big Dane Murray has done really fine, just trying to get Cameron and Alistair just back into the fold again. So, hopefully, if Cameron is okay, I think then that’ll be good news for us if he’s come through that.”
O'Neill right to move on from CCV spat
It was all a little too public during a difficult spell for Celtic. O'Neill shouldn't have added fuel to the fire by responding publicly, and the issue should have been dealt with in-house, but it wasn't and both parties had their say in front of the cameras.
But they have moved on, which is important, especially with Carter-Vickers having been Celtic's most reliable centre-back this season. He has barely put a foot wrong, and while Murray has done decently in his absence, there is no doubt that Carter-Vickers is the best option going forward, and the importance of that will be highlighted against better opponents in Europe.
Keeping your better players on-side is an important part of management, and as a very good man manager, O'Neill knows that well. And in any case, no one said anything particularly damaging, it was the timing of it all that made it feel like more of an issue.
