AS far as memorable goals go, Celtic’s win over Kilmarnock had a few. There were two overhead kicks from Moritz Jenz and Giorgos Giakoumakis for a start, while Jota pinged in another long-range beauty into the top corner as he maintained his sensational start to the season.
For Ange Postecoglou though, the one that brought him the most satisfaction was the ugly duckling of the bunch, as Carl Starfelt’s scrambled effort at the back post for their fourth on the day bookended a summer of injury disruption for the big Swede.
That frustration came pouring out in Starfelt’s celebration, with the fact it was also the first goal of his Celtic career making the moment all the more cathartic.
Not only was Postecoglou delighted for his centre-back on a personal level, but the Celtic manager was also pleased to see the trend of his centre-backs chipping in with goals from set-plays continuing in these early days of the season. Stephen Welsh, Moritz Jenz (with two) and Starfelt have now all been on the scoresheet in the opening three matches of the Premiership season.
“He has worked really hard in rehab,” Postecoglou said.
“He was really frustrated after such a strong season for us last year and then he went away on international duty and got injured and missed pretty much all of the pre-season for us.
“He has worked really hard to get himself back to a position where he is available again. Credit to him, he is a really good pro. He comes in every day and works really hard in training and he’s a really strong team-mate.
“I am really pleased for him to get a goal he has been trying really hard. It was probably the ugliest of the five but probably the most significant.
“We want to have multiple threats, it’s not about one person being the focal point of our scoring opportunities and avenues. We are getting centre backs chipping in which is also good.
“We just want to be a team that can hurt teams in many different ways. I thought the quality of our goals today were excellent and the quality of our general play attacking-wise was good.”
Even back at full fitness, Starfelt’s place in the team is a lot less secure than it was last season due to the presence of Jenz, whose injury in the second half at Rugby Park gave him the opportunity to make his return.
Postecoglou will have that choice to make next week in all likelihood, as he gave a positive appraisal of Jenz’s situation.
“I think he is okay,” he said. “I’m not sure what the issue was.
“He was feeling something but we had a look after the game and he seemed okay. It doesn’t seem like anything serious.”
That strength in depth that Postecoglou now enjoys does normally bring with it the headache of keeping players happy even when they aren’t starting games, though he hasn’t seen any sign of dissent in the ranks as yet.
On the contrary, he reports that each member of the squad is comfortable knowing they have to fight for their place in the team every single day.
“Well, yes, they haven’t got much choice to be fair!” he said. “It is the way it is.
“To me, behaviours speak more loudly than any kinds of words. I see how they are in training every day. And if someone can come into training and show me who the guys who are starting are and who aren’t then they are a better judge than me. Because everyone is at it every day and that helps us and will help us moving forward.
“I think [the depth] is important. Not just for these games but I think going forward.
“At the moment we have this luxury of a game a week and we are trying to compensate for that by working really hard in training and credit to the players, the training levels are really high. So the guys who come on they don’t look like they haven’t been playing. They are in a group straight away and make an impact which is great.
“Look, they all want to play at the moment, they are all itching to start games and their training merits them starting but I am kind of holding back the tide at the moment because I know once the games start they will all get an opportunity, they will all play. What’s important for us is that when they do get that opportunity they can contribute.”
