Frustrated Ange Postecoglou reckons Celtic’s lack of penalty-box thrust was unacceptable.
The Parkhead manager watched his team reopen a nine-point lead at the top of the Premiership with a 2-1 win over Livingston. Ayo Obileye’s own goal and a Kyogo Furuhashi strike were enough to clinch success, but the perfectionist boss was deeply irritated and unimpressed at some of the attacking play Postecoglou says his men weren’t doing their jobs in front of the target and pulled no punches as he insisted Celtic have to follow instructions in key areas.
He said: “We still created chances, but those numbers should be greater if we got on the end of things. It’s unacceptable. We work on it constantly, so players know they should be in that area. It’s not clinical, it’s just being disciplined and being in those areas. We created good chances, but people in the box weren’t doing their jobs. Balls flashed across the goal, but people weren’t there. It’s disappointing because we work on that constantly.
“We’ve had a lot of success playing that way, so when it doesn’t happen, I get frustrated because there’s no reason we shouldn’t do it. It’s not anticipation because we know what’s going to happen. We work on it constantly. People said last week we’ve scored 200 goals and a lot have been like that.
“Maybe it’s human nature and people maybe think there are other ways to score. I was disappointed we didn’t take advantage of the chances we created.
“It was important to win. The performance wasn’t our best. I thought in the first half we controlled the game and did the things we wanted to, but I was disappointed.
“At 2-0 the game should have been over. We conceded a soft goal which we’ve not done a lot of either. We lost concentration for a moment.
“The second half was okay. We controlled the game, but there wasn’t a great deal of rhythm.”
Liel Abada did his best to carry out orders. He created both Celtic goals from crosses, but was also told he could do better as Postecoglou said: “I thought he was very good. He’s constantly improving and wanting to be better.
“That physical side of the game is something he has to deal with. He’s not the biggest guy, but he doesn’t lack courage.
“I thought he was good. A couple of times in the first half he should have been in areas where he’s scored from in the past, but wasn’t there.
“If one or two don’t do it, then it filters through the team. But overall his contribution was important.”
Abada had an effort chalked off for a controversial VAR decision in the second period and Postecoglou said: “I didn’t realise offside was something the referee gets sent to the monitor for.”
Livi sub Morgan Boyes’ touch could have been deemed to have played Abada onside, but referee Euan Anderson said no and Lions boss David Martindale stated: “I thought it was offside. He made a movement and big Morgan stumbled slightly. I thought it was right.
“The referee had the option to look at the monitor to let him make that decision. VAR assisted the referee to referee the game.”
Postecoglou also lost defender Anthony Ralston during the game to injury. With Josip Juranovic not back from the World Cup and Alistair Johnston not eligible until January 1, it was a concern for Celtic.
But the gaffer said: “I don’t think it’s anything too bad. He had a bang on the nose and his back seized up after a challenge, but I’ll wait until after the physio has seen him. I don’t think it’s anything too serious.”
Martindale’s team were unable to take anything, despite Nicky Devlin’s goal giving them a chance and causing some tension in the home stands in the latter stages. The Livi boss said: “We knew we were playing the best team with some top players. Ange has done a fantastic job. I was disappointed in the two goals we lost, but I was delighted with their reaction when we scored.
“At half-time we got some more information into them. There were slight changes. It helped us get a bit more pressure in Celtic’s mid-third.
“We were very competitive in the game. My goalkeeper wasn’t as busy as I thought he’d be and I don’t mean that in a disrespectful way.
“People talk about parking the bus but you need players who are disciplined and their game management has to be top and I thought it was for a large majority of the game."
READ NEXT:
