Tom Boyd reckons rocking Real Madrid was an even better display than beating Barcelona as he backed Ange Postecoglou to stick to his swashbuckling style. The former Celtic hero is fully on board with Angeball and he is convinced Champions League rivals Shakhtar Donetsk and RB Leipzig will struggle to live with Celts if they go gung ho like they did against Los Blancos.
Postecoglou’s men eventually came up short against the Spanish giants but Boyd believes the Parkhead boss should stick to his guns as they hit the road in the next two games. And he’s convinced the all out attack Madrid masterplan will thrill fans – and get results.
Celts take on Ukraine outfit Shakhtar in their temporary Warsaw home and former title-winning Hoops skipper Boyd said: “We played better in an attacking sense against the European champions than we did when we beat Barcelona here all those years ago.
“It is about taking your opportunities when they come along and you have to be clinical in that aspect, which Celtic have been for most of this campaign. It was a no-lose situation against Real Madrid. They put in a good performance and kept the feelgood factor going.
“The impact Ange has had and the addition of good players coming in is hopefully a recipe for success and that has been the case so far. It has been great to watch. If this is it at its peak then, I tell you what, I think every Celtic supporter will be happy.”
Boyd believes the rest of Group F will have taken notice of Celtic’s intent – but they might struggle to cope. He said: “Judging on the performance, I wouldn’t imagine Shakhtar and Leipzig would be able to come and defend with the way Celtic like to attack.
“I don’t imagine he will change his philosophy in terms of the way he wants to play. I wouldn’t imagine those clubs will be as good defensively as Real Madrid. We will wait and see how that develops.
“But there could be a chance. It is still difficult. We now have two away games and that is a hard start to the campaign. We have played the European champions first and then we have two away games. It is a very difficult start.”
Postecoglou makes no apologies about his attacking ideology. Some bosses might be tempted to park the bus when coming up against the European juggernauts, but the Aussie prefers to fight fire with fire.
Boyd is on board. He’s rather watch a Celtic side having a go and if it doesn’t come off then at least they will have gone down swinging.
He said: “It’s about being brave enough to go and do that. We have tried it so many times by going and just sitting in and defending and that has not worked. So why not go and have a go. Goals change games.
“Had we scored against Real Madrid it might have given us something, a wee cushion, and we might have gone on to get another outstanding victory. But it didn’t happen.
“But going to these sort of places it is worth having a go and testing these other teams. I would rather see the team have a go than sitting in and defending and getting beat. That has been the case for us some times.”
Boyd is going to enjoy the European thrill ride but it’s the league title that remains the big goal. Getting out of the Champions League group – either to the knockout stages or the Europa League – would be some achievement this early in the manager’s Parkhead project.
Boyd said: “Europe is a bonus isn’t it? The rewards of what you’ve done in the league campaign. But the league is still the priority, you can’t get away from that.
“What we want to do is get back to getting performances and getting the crowd behind us. We have lost our way a wee bit in terms of some of the results we had here when it was a fortress many, many years ago. I am sure that is what we want to try and get back to.
“We have got a couple of difficult away games coming up. We will see what it is like when Donetsk and Leipzig come back here again. We will hope for the same intensity from the fans and the players. I would hope for different outcomes and results.
“I know we lost but that was to the European champions and it certainly seems like a great time to be a Celtic supporter. And the players have to be full of confidence.”
Celtic will be well rested for Warsaw tomorrow after the SPFL’s shutdown at the weekend.
Carl Starfelt won’t make it but a few extra days recovery won’t have done any harm to Kyogo’s busted shoulder, suffered in the opening seconds of the thumping Rangers win the other week.
Boyd believes Postecoglou has plenty of options though with Gio Giakoumakis proving to be a supreme stand in. He said: “The manager has the luxury of two in-form strikers. Kyogo seems to be the number one choice and I think if he was fit enough he would have played. But we know the styles of both players, Kyogo a little bit sharper but Giakoumakis also a goalscorer.
“It’s up to the rest of the players around them to supply them and they will get goals, no matter what. They won’t score every game and it will be more difficult against the European champions with the defenders they’ve got but they will both score goals for Celtic.
“It’s about keeping them happy and playing like that, winning games and getting plaudits will keep everybody happy.”
*Tom Boyd was speaking at the launch of Wim Jansen's book MASTERMIND. Wim was Celtic manager in season 1997/98 and won the League title to stop Rangers from winning 10-in-a-row. Wim passed away in January of this year.'
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