ANGE IS FIT FOR PURPOSE
Celts boss desperate for huge injury list to clear so he can finally field stable starting XI
ANGE POSTECOGLOU craves the day when he is able to select something approaching his strongest starting XI for Celtic. Tasked with effecting a drastic squad rebuild after taking the job in the summer, the club’s new manager made 12 signings but has had no opportunity to mould them into a cohesive unit.
Now fit again, his marquee recruit Kyogo Furuhashi missed five matches with an injury picked up on international duty with Japan.
Just as Kyogo returned, Croatian international full-back Josip Juranovic was sidelined with a knock that will see him miss out again today at Aberdeen.
Giorgos Giakoumakis and James McCarthy are back in the squad but have barely got going.
And then there are the established
club players he was relying on to steer the ship through choppy waters.
Skipper Callum McGregor has just returned from a rare stint on the treatment table, while Greg Taylor is out for the medium term with a shoulder problem.
And longer term, comebacks for James Forrest and Christopher Jullien are still some way off.
‘We haven’t had any ability to sort of stabilise the team,’ admits the Australian coach. ‘We have had injuries, disruption and I think this unsettling period has affected some of our results.
‘My experience in football is that you will get challenges at a certain part of the year. Sometimes it happens at the beginning, might be the middle, at others at the end.
‘So unless we have a really wretched run this year, I do expect things to calm down and that will give us an opportunity to get some consistency.
‘But that doesn’t take away from the fact that even during this period, we could have been a little bit stronger in certain areas to prevent such a fluctuation in our results.
‘We need to be mentally stronger. If you look at all the games in which we have struggled to get a result, it has been moments that have cost us at both ends of the park, whether that’s a chance that really we should be putting away or a mistake in our own box that gives the opposition an advantage.
‘The balance of that is that when you look at Thursday’s team — apart from Cal and Tommy Rogic — the rest of them are in the first year of their Celtic careers.
‘We have to give them some time to understand the expectation and the pressures around the club.
‘Hopefully, they will grow from there.’
That’s where the nous and experience of Forrest and Jullien would be so handy.
Although far from the loudest or most forceful character at the club, winger Forrest is among the most decorated players in Celtic’s history and his volume of goals and assists saw him crowned Scotland’s Player of the Year in 2019.
Jullien was recruited that same year for £7million and leant the defence a physical and vocal presence.
The Frenchman also had a knack for coming up with big goals.
‘It will be great to get those two back and available because I think they can help us chart a way through this challenging period,’ admits Postecoglou. ‘Chris had a long-term injury and has been working hard in rehab.
‘We are hoping that he will start to get involved in team training after the international break.
‘That will be the first stage for him and once he’s training with the team, it’s about picking our moment to throw him back in.
‘James is a bit different. He had a minor setback and we haven’t been able to get him up and running.
‘It’s a difficult to put a timeline on it. Because my initial thoughts were that he wouldn’t be too long and it’s become stretched out.
‘I guess we just have to be guided by him and how the injury heals. Hopefully, we’ll get him back because he is a senior player in this team and one that I felt would be making a significant contribution.
‘Obviously, that hasn’t happened. He has had a couple of different injury problems. The latest is a foot problem.’
Forrest’s absence has meant Postecoglou (right with Kyogo) has been reliant on new boys Jota and Liel Abada to fill the wide areas.
‘Jota and Liel are playing every game, virtually 90 minutes every time, and that’s obviously affecting their ability to be sharp in that front third.’
Beaten by a 4–0 margin by Bayer
Apart from Cal and Tommy, Thursday’s team are in first year of their Celtic careers
Leverkusen on Thursday night, Postecoglou’s despair at some abject defending was leavened to some degree by his team’s ability to create chances against a team sitting second in Germany’s Bundesliga.
It also marked the first time he has been able to field his on-loan Benfica winger Jota in tandem with Kyogo.
‘That was pleasing,’ says Postecoglou. ‘When putting the team together, you have pictures in your head of what it will look like when you get everyone up and running.
‘Jota is improving with every game and making a mark. Kyogo has made a massive impact. ‘Even on Thursday, I know he didn’t score, but his movement and ability to create problems for top-quality defenders is great for us. Hopefully, we can keep developing that relationship because he and Jota can be a good combination.
‘Giorgos too. He is lacking fitness but he got some game time and will provide us with another option.’
Celtic have not secured an away Premiership win since Valentine’s Day when a double from Odsonne Edouard was enough to defeat St Johnstone.
Within ten days, manager Neil Lennon was gone but the protracted — and ultimately doomed — pursuit of Eddie Howe left the club chasing its tail deep into the summer.
Yet while it’s true that Postecoglou has had to rush through the first stages of his summer rebuild, he knows he needs to coax better displays from the players now under his charge.
On his watch, Celtic have lost all three away league fixtures to Hearts, Rangers and Livingston.
Another loss at Pittodrie this afternoon would seriously undermine his efforts to reverse
the damage wrought in last season’s failed pursuit of ‘the ten’.
‘When you talk about building a strong mentality, the players need to get rewards for their hard work,’ admits Postecoglou. ‘If we do win and get the result at Aberdeen, it will show that we have the mentality to do that at a tough place.
‘We are hugely disappointed by what happened on Thursday night and our focus is to make sure there is a reaction to that against a team that is going to be hard to beat, especially away from home.
‘We have had our challenges away from home and we need to make sure we get a reaction.
‘The table is still pretty tight. It’s only seven games in and there is an opportunity there to get some results and climb.
‘We are certainly not looking at the table thinking we have lost touch with anyone yet.
‘The important thing now is to get on a run of results.
‘We want to go into the international break with a win and hopefully after that we will be close to a full complement of players and that will give us the opportunity to follow that result with some consistency.’