BREN’S OFF PITCH WITH CRITICISM
OWEN COYLE last night rubbished claims a poor Ross County pitch contributed to Celtic’s difficulties in Dingwall.
Brendan Rodgers and Leigh Griffiths both said the pitch played a part in Saturday’s sluggish display with the Hoops boss criticising “long” grass and a bobbly surface.
But Staggies gaffer Coyle felt the assessment took away from the quality of his side and was staunch in his support of groundsman Davie Fraser.
The 51-year-old was also puzzled as to why if the pitch was unsatisfactory there had been no mention of it by Celtic before the match.
He said: “The pitch was fine. When you don’t perform the way you want, which we never allowed Celtic to do, it is an easy thing to throw out there.
“What I would say is the pitch was the same for both teams. We at times got the ball down and passed and moved it.
“We have a good surface. At the stage of the year we’re at the grass is not going to grow any more anyway.
“Everybody is aware of that. We’re not in the middle of spring when the shoots are popping through.
“For me it isn’t an issue. If there was a problem it would have been said before the game and it wasn’t.
“Brendan and his lads came in after the game, we had a good chat and nothing was mentioned so it is what it is.
“People will always have different opinions on the game, the pitch and everything else. But it played no part in how the game was played.
“The ball was there to pass and move regardless of the surface. In this country we play on a variety of pitches.
“We went to Kilmarnock on the astroturf in my first game and won. We got on with it because that’s what you do.
“Whatever challenge you face you have to be ready. Our groundsman does a fantastic job – he is a workaholic.
“It was a cold day and a lot of factors come into play but for me it isn’t an issue.”
Only Griffiths’s 30-yard free-kick in 78 minutes broke the home side’s resistance.
And Coyle, who has won three and drawn one of seven games in charge, stressed his men have set a high bar after restricting Moussa Dembele, Stuart Armstrong and Co.
He said: “We were delighted with how we went about the game but disappointed we never took anything from it.
“We put enough into it to merit a point. It was going to take something special like that to beat us because we kept a very good shape and worked hard.
“We looked a threat when able to carry the ball out. That didn’t happen as often as I would have liked but that’s a measure of the quality of team we were playing against.
“We restricted Celtic to three shots on target. One was Dembele from 25 yards and was never going to threaten, another from Armstrong was dealt with comfortably and the other was the goal.
“That tells you how much we put into the game.
“But Griffiths has sublime quality. The free-kick was nearly 13 feet in the air at one point so to drop under the bar tells you what he is capable of doing.
“That was hurtful because we had put so much into the game.
“What we have to do now is maintain those standards. With all due respect we don’t play Celtic every week – although every game is tough.
“We have shown we can stand toe to toe with the very best, which we did. We have to use that as the catalyst.”