Ange Postecoglou answered questions from the media on Friday afternoon, following a very emotional day for the Celtic Family as we laid to rest our very own John ‘Yogi’ Hughes. Amongst the tributes he paid to another of out famous Lions, the boss did talk about brass taxes and the ensuing league business that is on the horizon this Sunday against Kilmarnock.
Ange Postecoglou has never brought his team to play in the Ayrshire coast and it will be a first time experience for most of his players, although they have had experience of artificial surfaces before in West Lothian with Livingston. After overcoming both Aberdeen at home on Flag Day and then tricky customers Ross County in the Highlands last Saturday, Ange will be aiming to make it three wins in three league games this afternoon. (Kick-off is at midday).
Both the Dons and Staggies tried to make life as difficult as possible for us these past couple of weeks and were happy enough to let us have the ball, whilst they put men behind the ball. Admittedly it was quite frustrating and it took some real moments of magic and class to unlock the defences of both teams. But we never really looked fazed to be honest and duly reaped the rewards for our attitude and commitment to playing football the Celtic Way.
Derek McInnes will no doubt harbour plans of the same ilk as both Jim Goodwin and Malky Mackay, attempting to camp men in their own half and try to make the park narrow and claustrophobic. The conditions which meet us at these grounds are rarely welcoming as the pitches remain dry in an obvious attempt to blunt creativity and fast-paced football. There is also the risk of injury which scares the supporters to death for 90-plus minutes as we watch through the spaces in our fingers the majority of the time. Not pleasant at all it must be said.
However, the boss has insisted that we must stick to out principles and how we wish to play the game and not be deterred by the sub-standard conditions in Kilmarnock. Speaking at his media conference, he said: “I’m looking forward to it. Derek did a fantastic job last year when he took over and it’s clear their ambitions were to get promoted and he did that with them.
“He has great experience and I’m looking forward to meeting him and playing against his side. We played at Livingston’s pitch last year and from our perspective, it’s about preparing well and understanding the challenges the surface may give us. We need to overcome those challenges by sticking to our principles.No change to our approach, just an awareness of the challenges.”
If Celtic play to our potential there is no way McInnes and his men can stop us. Rough pitch or not, we simply have too much in our armoury for us not to come back up the M77 with all three points on the day. The only concern is the challenges that could come our way if we don’t receive adequate protection from the officials. I’m thinking of course of Alan Power’s assault on Jeremy Frimpong a few years back that went unpunished.
Hopefully though, we are too hot for them to handle.
Watch Ange preview the match below:
Paul Gillespie
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