BARELY a day has gone by in the past month without some story or another about Celtic’s free-scoring forwards being splashed across the back pages.
Kyogo Furuhashi’s form up front has been lauded, Giorgos Giakoumakis’s uncertain future debated and Oh Hyeon-gyu’s signing hailed.
The Parkhead club’s defenders, meanwhile, have quietly and efficiently gone about their business in the background with very little, if any, fuss being made over their displays.
Yet, for Ange Postecoglou, whose men restored their nine point lead over Rangers at the top of the cinch Premiership on Sunday with a comfortable 2-0 win over Dundee United at Tannadice, they are every bit as precious to Celtic as his strikers.
He believes that Joe Hart, Alistair Johnston, Anthony Ralston, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Carl Starfelt, Yuki Kobayashi, Greg Taylor and Alexandro Bernabei give his offensive players a platform to perform on week in, week out and deserve exactly the same plaudits as their more celebrated team mates.
“It is a very important part of our game,” he said. “We wouldn’t be the attacking side we are and score the goals we do if we didn’t have the defensive framework to fall back on.”
Starfelt, the Swedish internationalist who has firmly established himself as a first team regular since completing a £4m transfer from Rubin Kazin in Russia last summer, is a real unsung hero of this Celtic side for Postecoglou.
The fact the centre half has never lost a Premiership game while playing alongside Carter-Vickers – who he first teamed up with in a 3-0 home triumph over Ross County back in the September of 2021 - in the past 16 months has certainly not gone unnoticed by his manager.
Asked if he felt the Scandinavian did not receive the recognition which he deserved, the Greek-Australian said: “Maybe externally, but internally he certainly does. He has been a cornerstone of our team since pretty much the day he arrived. He was one of the first ones we signed.
“You know, I guess he is a bit understated in the way he plays the game. He rarely gets beaten, he is always in the right areas and contributing both to our attack and our defence. It (his unbeaten league record alongside Carter-Vickers) is a credit to him and Cam. They have a very good understanding. They complement each other really well.”
Postecoglou, though, demands that every player in his Celtic side, even top scorer Furuhashi, helps out in that vital area. He believes the five consecutive clean sheets they have kept this month underlines that they are doing exactly that.
“I think our whole defensive work since the break has been outstanding,” he said. “Led from the front with Kyogo’s pressing, everyone is really committed to being really aggressive with our defensive work.
“I think that is reflected (in the results). It gives us the foundation to play our football. Obviously, the back four is a big part of that, Joe is a big part of that. But collectively I think our defensive work has been really top notch.
“I don’t know if it gets overlooked, but we certainly look at it that for us it is the foundation we build our football on. If we are working really hard defensively, collectively and are really organised and disciplined it suffocates the opposition.
“It doesn’t give them time to breathe and allows us to wear teams down, break them down one way or another. That’s through everyone being committed to it. As I said, it is a very important part of our game. We wouldn’t be the attacking side we are and score the goals we do if we didn’t have the defensive framework to fall back on.”
Postecoglou acknowledges that the playing style he favours can be both physically and mentally demanding on his charges and can often put his centre backs and full-backs in difficult situations. However, he is satisfied they all accept and enjoy the challenge and feels that Carter-Vickers and Starfelt very much lead by example.
“They are committed to the way we want to defend,” he said. “It’s not easy to defend in our team. We are constantly pushing the line, but we want to be aggressive. It means a lot of one-on-one defending, one defending without cover.
“You need to embrace that as a defender and be willing to put yourself on the line. They are both very, very brave in their position - as they need to be - and it is a credit to both of them.”
Oh Hyeon-gyu, the South Korean internationalist who joined Celtic in a £2.5m move from K-League club Suwon Samsung last week, made his debut for the Parkhead club at Tannadice on Sunday when he replaced Furuhashi with eight minutes of regulation time remaining.
The 21-year-old forward was unable to open his account for the Scottish champions during his brief time on the park. Still, Postecoglou was pleased to give the new arrival some game time and is confident he will make his mark in due course and help his new club’s attempts to land silverware.
“He’s been fine,” he said. “It’s been a big week for him and he’s only a young lad. It is going to take him a few weeks to get settled properly, but you can see already he’s a guy who wants to make an impact. He’s determined to make an impact and I’m sure he will.
“If you are ever going to make a debut for a team, this is the team you want to do it for because they make you feel invincible right from the start. I’m sure he didn’t sleep much on Sunday night, but we got back to training and are getting ready for Wednesday.”
Oh will, like every Celtic player, have to muck in with defensive duties on occasion as well as score goals if he is to flourish at Parkhead in the months ahead.
