A balancing act that could make or break Postecoglou’s reign
EUROPE MIGHT DERAIL LEAGUE DREAMS OF A THIN CELTIC SQUAD
EVEN now, some 16 years on, Gordon Strachan would probably scoff at the suggestion there were any crumbs of comfort to be had from his humiliating introduction to life as manager of Celtic.
Announced as Martin O’Neill’s successor in the summer of 2005, the Celtic side he took to Bratislava to face little-known Artmedia was somewhat unfamiliar yet was still peppered with stellar names, including Bobo Balde, Neil Lennon and Chris Sutton.
What unfolded that night in Slovakia was the stuff of nightmares, though; a five-goal trouncing without reply that truly might have been anything.
Already a hard sell to the Celtic support on account of his long association with Aberdeen, there were those who demanded Strachan’s sacking after just one match in charge.
‘I have been a manager for eight years and a player for 25 and this is out-and-out the worst football night I have had,’ he said at the time. ‘I am in shock and it’s very hard to be coherent.’
The aftershocks of that dark night were felt for weeks to come. The team subsequently shipped four goals in an opening-day league draw at Motherwell and would lose at Ibrox before August was out.
In the fullness of time, though, calm was restored. And without the concerns of midweek European engagements, the graft done on the training ground manifested itself in improved results.
From their next 11 games after that loss at Ibrox, 10 were won and one was drawn. A further nine straight wins were chalked up in the New Year. Without Europe to contend with, in each game Strachan was able to go full pelt.
The contrast across the city could hardly have been sharper. Hampered by Champions League games with Porto, Inter Milan and Artmedia, then a last-16 joust with Villarreal, Alex McLeish’s men simply couldn’t sustain a fight on all fronts.
Prior to Christmas, Rangers won just three from 13 league games. They were eventually eased out of second place in the title race by Hearts, with Strachan’s side a yawning 18 points ahead of them. Europe killed them domestically.
Having won the title against Hearts in early April with six games to spare, it might be a stretch to suggest that Celtic would not have got over the line first in any event.
But the Artmedia factor unquestionably had a telling influence on that season. Without that emphatic defeat, Strachan’s side would certainly not have gelled as quickly as it did.
Many more hours would have been spent in airports than on the training pitch. In all likelihood, Shunsuke Nakamura — who arrived post-Bratislava — would have taken more time to find his feet.
European football is as much a curse as a blessing for Ange Postecoglou in his first full season in charge. With 12 new signings to bed in, for all the kudos that comes with playing in that environment, it must occasionally feel like an interruption that he could well live without.
The trouble for the Australian is that such engagements are almost unavoidable these days. Where Strachan’s interest was cut short on August 2 when Celtic won the return with Artmedia 4-0, the compensation for the current team’s defeat to Midtjylland in the Champions League qualifiers was a Europa League play-off with Jablonec.
Having won that, they were already guaranteed European football until Christmas in either the Europa or the Conference League — depending on how they fared against AZ Alkmaar.
The upshot is that games come like snowflakes in a blizzard. By the time Postecoglou’s side sign off for the international break at Dundee on Sunday, they will have played seven games in 23 days.
Between the League Cup semi-final with St Johnstone on November 20 and the home game with Rangers on January 2, they have 12 matches in 44 days.
It’s a heavy enough workload for squads boasting strength in depth. For one that’s light in certain areas, it’s a huge issue that needs to be carefully managed.
Asked on Friday if the games with Livingston and Ferencvaros required a collective consideration, the Celtic manager was pretty clear in his thinking.
‘In terms of my philosophy, I only think of a team to pick for the game in front of me,’ he said.
‘You can confuse yourself if you look too far ahead. I could plan a team for Thursday and then get a couple of injuries, which means I need to change it.’
While the injury sustained by Carl Starfelt against the Almondvale side did illustrate the futility in planning too far ahead in football, the fact Postecoglou started with Kyogo Furuhashi on the bench did suggest that the trip to Hungary was at the back of his mind.
For all Celtic stand every chance of securing post-Christmas European football on Thursday, if it’s a matter of priorities, there is no question that the fan base would gladly forgo that achievement this season if it would enhance the team’s chances of winning the title.
There is £30million at stake as a result of direct entry for Scotland’s best side to next year’s Champions League group stages. That kind of cash can go a long way to strengthening a squad to the point where it might be capable of fighting on all fronts.
Just ask Strachan — who hit the same jackpot in his debut season. That success enabled him to sign the likes of Paul Hartley and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink — mainstays of the team which would win the title again in 2007 and 2008 while twice reaching the last 16 of the Champions League.
The moral of that story was that European success only came as a consequence of firstly winning the fight for domestic supremacy.
Until such time as he has the required armoury at his disposal, Postecoglou’s attempt to win every battle he enters will remain a high-risk strategy.