ALAS, progression from the Champions League group stages, or even into the Europa League via third place in their section, proved beyond Celtic this season. It is reasonable though for manager Ange Postecoglou to argue that progress was made nonetheless.
Even before the tournament kicked off, Postecoglou vowed that if his team were going to go down, they would go down swinging. And he was true to his word, for better or for worse.
It is also true to say that Postecoglou’s focus on the bigger picture, as justifiable as it may be, shouldn’t detract from Celtic’s shortcomings in this group stage. And by extension, the shortcomings of his own football philosophy.
