Scottish soccer: O’Neill - it's different for Old Firm

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill reckons Kilmarnock counterpart Bobby Williamson would have to eat his words if he was in charge of an Old Firm team.

Williamson took a swipe at the Glasgow giants after Saturday’s Tennent’s Scottish Cup defeat by claiming they would neglect youth for success.

Williamson insisted he would keep ‘‘banging the drum’’ for Scottish youngsters, but O’Neill has reacted to those words.

O’Neill believes he is under pressure to win every game and trophies and as a result has to pick the best players at his disposal.

He has, however, agreed to let young Irish midfielder Colin Healy join Coventry City on a three-month loan deal.

The 21-year-old has struggled to break into the first team this season and the Celtic boss feels the break will benefit him.

‘‘I’m hoping that if he breaks into the Coventry side, I’ll have a chance to see him play myself and see how he copes when he has a run of games,’’ said O’Neill.

‘‘I’m hoping it suits both parties - it’s just something that’s come up.’’

With regard to Williamson's comments, O'Neill said: ‘‘We are playing senior football for a start and, therefore, if you have a squad of 16 players then you are hoping they are your best available,’’ said O’Neill. ‘‘That should be straightforward.

‘‘You don’t limit yourself because it’s senior football and I would say exactly the same if I was managing outside the Old Firm.

‘‘I don’t see any rules down in the Premiership in England and I don’t see it elsewhere.

‘‘I would love to loan the promising players I have here like Stephen Crainey and Shaun Maloney and Jamie Smith to gain them some experience.

‘‘But because I have to keep one or two of them around because we have the Under-21 rule I can’t let three or four go out at any given stage.

‘‘They are close to regular first-team football and Shaun Maloney is being kept out of the side by two or three big players.

‘‘I do have different priorities. If I was managing Kilmarnock and money was tight, I would put the players in and let them develop as Bobby is doing with Kilmarnock and Aberdeen are doing, which is great. But they do not have to win every single week.

‘‘I get on great with Bobby, but I think if Bobby was manager of the Old Firm then he may look at the situation differently. If you are good enough then you are old enough.’’

O’Neill hopes the club’s youngsters will do more than knock on the first-team door in the coming years.

He said: ‘‘I’m hoping in the course of time someone comes up and keeps the likes of Lennon, Lambert and Petrov out.’’

Paul Lambert is on the verge of signing a two-year contract extension which will keep him at the club until 2005 and O’Neill is also making inroads in trying to get winger Bobby Petta to sign a new deal.

‘‘I thought discussions went well first of all,’’ said O’Neill. ‘‘But I have not had a chance to speak to him in the last week or so. We will talk when we get a couple of these matches out of the way.’’

Meanwhile, Joos Valgaeren has jumped to the defence of under-fire team-mate Bobo Balde after recent criticism.

Hearts manager Craig Levein and midfielder Thomas Flogel fired allegations at Balde after a recent tackle.

Belgian international Valgaeren insists Balde is fair - and has no complaints about him in training.

Valgaeren said: ‘‘He’s been quite impressive and Bobo’s played a big part in the team’s success this season.

‘‘He is a big hit with the fans and he has also impressed his team-mates with his performances every week.

‘‘He’s one of the fairest we have on the field in training. He goes for the ball.

‘‘He always has a good intention to play the ball and if you have something to prove it’s easy to complain.

‘‘I don’t have any problems with him in training so I don’t complain and I’ve got no bruises.’’