Now that the dust has settled on Celtic’s victory over FC Utrecht at Celtic Park last night, a victory which secured Celtic’s place in the knockout play-offs where they will face VfB Stuttgart, the Hoops’ attention is now fully on Sunday’s match against Falkirk. Whilst the Celtic first team went through their paces today at Lennoxtown, Martin O’Neill was in attendance at the funeral of his late friend and colleague, John Robertson. The service for the former Celtic assistant manager took place in Nottinghamshire this morning, a place where the man from Viewpark is revered for his legendary contributions in a Nottingham Forest jersey during the halcyon days of Brian Clough’s reign as manager. With Martin O’Neill unable to be at Lennoxtown, his assistant Shaun Maloney spoke to the media today and was fulsome in his praise of the Celtic boss as he shed light on the experience of working so closely with his former manager. “Martin is an amazing man,” Maloney said. “I’m sure the media days are slightly different with me than with Martin, so I need to take a leaf out of his book there! “He’s got fundamentals in terms of how he sees the game, how he sees winning a game that I think I’ve been reminded of. “As a young coach sometimes, and I’ve been guilty of it, you can overcomplicate things. “Martin sees things really clearly. That’s been a huge learning curve for me. And he has the ability to bring out the best in players. “It’s been fascinating and really enjoyable to work with him and I think all the staff would say similar.The visit of Falkirk to Celtic Park on Sunday (February 1, KO 3pm) provides a chance for the Hoops to pick up another massive three points in the hunt for this season’s title. The Hoops have defeated John McGlynn’s side three times so far this season, with two of those wins coming during Martin O’Neill’s managerial tenures, however Maloney reckons they will provide a stern test on Sunday afternoon. He added: “We’ve played Falkirk twice. We were fortunate to beat them in the last game, although I really liked how we defended in the last 20 minutes. “They’re a very good attacking team. I know some of their players. Calvin Miller, for example, has had a really good season so far. “They go for it, home or away, they leave it all out there. It’ll be a tough game but a really open game.” MORE ON THE GAME: Training Gallery: Celtic v Falkirk - View now Celtic FC Quiz: Celtic v Falkirk – Test your knowledge Keep up to date with all of the action: Official Match Centre FixturesCeltic Vs. Falkirk – Sun, Feb 1st 2026, 15:00
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