Postecoglou wants to go into derby full of confidence to lay down a marker
Celtic manager keen to make early inroads in title race rather than playing catch up like last season
IT IS a truth universally acknowledged that the team who wins the first derby of the season tends to place their marker for the title; across the last 37 years the team who has lost the opening fixture has only recovered the ground to win the title six times. One of those was last season when Ange Postecoglou’s transitional side found their stride after an opening defeat at Ibrox. The team that started that day against Rangers was very different to the team which clinched the title 10 months later.
If this week has suggested that even within the confines of Scottish football that there may be bigger fish to fry given the glamour and intrigue of the Champions League draw with both Celtic and Rangers tantalisingly in the mix, nonetheless it is difficult to escape the magnitude of Saturday’s game.
Both sides have undergone changes since they last met in May with Jota – now a permanent feature at Celtic – and Fashion Sakala netting to share the points in a result that favoured the Parkhead side. Celtic’s spine remains the same even with the nine additions that have arrived in the current window while Rangers have a different hue.
There have been six new signings for Giovanni van Bronckhorst with the eight who have gone in the other direction also notable.
“They have had a turnover of players which they haven’t had in the last three pre-seasons when they were building a team,” said Postecoglou. “With [Calvin] Bassey and [Joe] Aribo going were significant players for them and they have brought in some players who have started pretty positively for them.
“Irrespective of that they are going to be tough opposition for us, the games were pretty tight last year and I think they will be the same this year. From our perspective, we have to make sure leading into that game we are in good form and feeling positive about things and make sure we reach the levels we know we can. When we play at our best, we are hard to stop, irrespective of who we are playing against.”
Celtic have shown that devastating menace in snatches so far this season.
We have to make sure leading into that game we are in good form
They were rampant against Kilmarnock a few weeks back at Rugby Park but more laboured at home against Hearts last Sunday.
Given the week that has been, Celtic’s challenge this afternoon may well lie in ensuring they do not take their eye off the domestic ball at Tannadice. It has been an unblemished start to the campaign but the intensity of the season is about to swiftly ramp up.
Aside from today’s game, there is the midweek Premier Sports Cup tie against Ross County before Rangers and then Real Madrid. Quite the mix.
A positive result over the Ibrox side would place them perfectly for the visit of Real Madrid just days later as the Spaniards arrive to kick off the Champions League campaign in earnest. All so easy on paper but perhaps a little more complex in reality.
“When you look at them [Real Madrid] as a group what they did to win the Champions League was always find a way to win their games. It’s the key thing at that level. They just have a history and tradition of being successful in the Champions League and they can’t be underestimated. Anyone who goes to that club understands the expectations and experience you need and it’s a credit to the whole group that they won it last year.
“For our supporters, in particular, it’s a fixture I am sure they will look forward to both here at Celtic Park and it’s going to be an unbelievable experience playing them at the Bernabeu.
“It’s one of those games that hasn’t happened for quite a while and because of that it’s natural everyone is looking forward to.”
If there will be a necessity to change personnel with so many games looming, Postecoglou was reluctant to commit to a system that has been favoured sometimes by managers of using one goalkeeper for Cup competitions and another for the rest.
“Then you kind of limit yourself a little bit,” he said. “Goalkeepers want to be competing to play every game. Joe’s [Hart] done really well and is our No1 goalkeeper but Benji’s [Siegrist] been outstanding in training and Scotty Bain has been working hard. Come midweek, I’ll make a decision based on what I think is best for us to win the game.
“Whether that’s goalkeeper or any other position, it will be the same thinking all the way through. We don’t want to limit ourselves or limit our players in their ambitions with certain criteria.
“For every game, I’ll be picking a team that I think will win us that game. Sometimes we take into account the previous game and how much it took out of the players but certainly we will need a squad and won’t be going into these games with the same 11 all the time but every time it will be picking a squad who will get the job done.”