# Martin O'Neill issues fresh Joel van den Berg verdict after Celtic B appearance **By:** Josh McCafferty **Published:** 2026-11-05T07:00:00Z **Source:** [Celtic Way](https://celticway.co.uk/interviews/26700377.oneills-fresh-van-den-berg-verdict-celtic-b-start) --- # O'Neill's fresh van den Berg verdict after Celtic B start Joel van den Berg of Celtic. _(Image: Mark Runnacles / Shutterstock)_ **Martin O'Neill says he'll demand 'a lot more' of Joel van den Berg after watching the midfielder in action for Celtic B against Ross County on Tuesday evening.** O'Neill travelled to Dingwall with coaches Mark Fotheringham and Stephen McManus for the Scottish Challenge Cup tie. Along with Van den Berg, first-team duo Shim Mheuka and Landon Emenalo featured from the start as Celtic B lost 2-0. The Netherlands youth international, signed from PSV Eindhoven for £3.5 million during the summer transfer window, completed 72 minutes. "He's just back from injury. I thought his training sessions had been very, very good," O'Neill said of Van den Berg. "And I'm going to demand a lot more of him." _(Image: Stuart Wallace / Shutterstock)_ O'Neill hasn't shied away from giving youth a chance since returning as Celtic manager last year. Colby Donovan has emerged as a first-team regular during his second and third tenures, with numerous youngsters involved in pre-season a few months back. The 74-year-old even spoke to the players after Tuesday's defeat. "That was wildly important for me to go up to that game \[in Dingwall\], really," O'Neill added. "Because there are two things to it. "Young boys want to see the manager there. And I do go. I went to a lot of the B team games last year as well down at Barrowfield. I feel that that's my job at the end of the day. "And while I might not be around, seriously, to see the likes of Liam Kennedy or people like this to mature and become \[first-team players\], you would take at least half an ounce of satisfaction that you saw them and that you were at least saying something to them that might help them get out of it. "The new manager coming in might just give totally different advice. I don't know. But I think that my advice to young players, this is not boastful, I promise you, I think it's the right way. "I give you an instance which I said to the team the other night. They were beaten by a very, very strong, and committed Ross County team. "But it was important for me to see, first of all, the young Chelsea lads playing, then Joel \[van den Berg\] coming back from injury, seeing what he's capable of doing. "But my things will not change in this game. Whatever changes they make to the game, you have the defenders to be able to defend. You've got full-backs whose first job is to think about stopping crosses from coming in. And then when they want to come and join in and be something. - [O'Neill's Yang update and the Celtic academy talent he was keen to see in Dingwall](https://www.celticway.co.uk/news/26699350.oneills-yang-update-celtic-academy-talent-keen-see-dingwall/?ref=ed_latest) - [How Celtic trio fared in B Team defeat to Ross County as O'Neill watches on](https://www.celticway.co.uk/news/26697285.celtic-trio-fared-b-team-defeat-ross-county-oneill-watches/?ref=ed_recent) "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. "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. "You also need wingers to take people on. Those things do not change. And it doesn't matter about tactics. It doesn't matter about jumping. It doesn't matter about man for man. It doesn't matter about all of these things. It's what you do. "I've seen it a thousand times, players with terrific ability when they're 17, 18, being given the wrong information and not realising their potential because they didn't have it."