It's no exaggeration to suggest Ange Postecoglou did not like what he saw in Leipzig last week. It wasn’t so much the result which ground the Big Aussie’s gears so badly, even though the 3-1 defeat against Red Bull clipped Celtic’s Champions League wings.
As far as he’s concerned, accidents like this will happen from time to time when he takes ‘his football’ and rolls it out onto the most dangerous stage in Europe. No, it was the sight of his players retreating into their shells and resorting to a low risk, safety-first strategy which turned a bad night into an intolerable one for a manager who refuses to take a single backwards step.
That’s why he staged ‘an intervention’ at Lennoxtown last week, to remind his men of what Ange-ball is meant to be all about. And it’s why he’s prepared to cop the blame on their behalf tonight, if any further Group F points should be taken back to Germany by the same Bundesliga big guns.
