CHEER GREEN PLACE
The car park wrath of last term has turned into a Hoops love-in thanks to gaffer Ange
IT wasn’t so long ago the sight of hundreds of fans outside Celtic Park long after the final whistle would have had security staff reaching for the overtime sheets.
The crowds were back at the front doors again on Saturday but the scene could not have been more different to the angry mobs of last term.
Players cheered as they left the ground, one by one. Kyogo Furuhashi setting a world record for selfies, even Odsonne Edouard departing with smiles and waves.
But the biggest cheer was for Ange Postecoglou.
When the Greek Aussie walked out of the front door of Parkhead it was like another goal had been scored, to add to the six those fans had celebrated against St Mirren earlier in the afternoon.
Postecoglou admits he’s not really the cuddling type but he’s been totally embraced by the Hoops support.
He’s not just won over the doubters. He has got everyone on board and a venue that was a torture chamber at times last season has turned in to a party pad.
Celtic Park is a happy place once more. It’s all hugs and high fives.
The turnaround has been totally remarkable. It’s six wins on the spin now and 24 goals in the process.
The last five games on the trot on home soil have been transformative with 20 goals and some breathtaking football.
Poor St Mirren were the latest victims and while a couple of key moments went against them, it was hard to see how there would have been much difference to the outcome.
Celtic scored six but created enough chances to hit double figures.
And for all the talk about Celtic’s defence still being dodgy, they have quietly picked up four clean sheets in the last five games, including the Europa League first-leg win against AZ Alkmaar.
Curtis Main’s wrongly disallowed goal on Saturday would have changed that – but nothing was going to stop Celts steamrollering their opponents.
Back in January the Buddies went to Parkhead and won for the first time in 30 years.
The biggest shock was no one was really that surprised.
By that stage the Hoops were in such a slump the fans didn’t even have the energy to protest in the car park afterwards.
But that’s certainly not something the side is lacking right now.
Postecoglou said his men were running on empty after AZ but they had enough to go full throttle again to batter the Buddies.
It’s all smiles, fun and games right now but the manager – and the support – know Celtic have stabilised and started their climb back from the abyss.
It’s not base camp though because the next few days are going to be vital if Postecoglou’s side are going to hit the heights this season.
The Hoops need to finish the job they started in Holland on Thursday and then deal with the trip to Ibrox to face Rangers.
A few weeks ago the prospect of going to Govan will have filled fans with dread.
Now they are counting down the minutes until kick-off and Gers fans are getting concerned.
It will be interesting to see how
Postecoglou approaches these games. He’s not going to take a backward step and try to shut up shop, that’s for sure.
And there wouldn’t be much point either given the way this side attacks.
The goals are coming from everywhere right now.
David Turnbull is the latest to find his shooting boots with his first senior hat-trick at the weekend.
He could have had a couple more as well but the playmaker is running amok in this formation.
His first goal was stunning, swerving dig from distance that flummoxed Jak Alnwick in the Saints goal. He prodded in the next after the
keeper pawed Liel Abada’s cross in to his path.
A third would arrived in the second half after sub Albian Ajeti did well to win the ball and allow him to nick in behind.
In between times it was hard to keep up with the goal glut.
Abada notched a couple early on. The wide man was superb all afternoon but Alnwick – who had one of those days – was left clutching air as the ball sailed through his hands.
His second was a header after some neat work from Furuhashi and Greg Taylor down the flank.
By that stage Saints were snookered after Alan Power’s wild lunge had Willie Collum reaching for the red.
Buddies boss Jim Goodwin was stuck in the house with Covid but he must have been tempted to change the channel by that point. It was relentless. Odsonne Edouard got in on the fun, prodding home from close range after his initial effort was blocked by Joe Shaughnessy, and it looked like the Frenchman was having fun on his return to the starting line up.
Celtic fans brought back his song for the first time in months.
And there was a sense that his departure might not be as inevitable as some folk have been thinking over the last 12 months.
Edouard could still go but does he jump at the first move he gets? Even he must be tempted to stick around, get back up to top form and then survey the market at a later date.
But even then, losing the striker now wouldn’t quite be the nightmare it would have been a short while ago.
Celtic are in a good place right now and if they can negotiate the coming days then something special could be brewing.
Hoops fans are on board with Big Ange, this doesn’t seem like time to be thinking about going anywhere.