Boss ‘super proud’ as Celts refuse to choke
Furuhashi, Matt O’Riley and Giorgos Giakoumakis contributed to another runaway win.
Postecoglou said: ‘You could sense there was a nervousness, even around the stadium. But it’s always how people deal with that.
‘I never had any doubts, it didn’t worry me. But I’m sure people were looking too see how we would respond.
‘We conceded early, which hasn’t happened much in this run. We’ve conceded to teams before and fought back — at Ibrox — but we knew this was significant.
‘They were outstanding again and didn’t miss a beat, scoring four good goals.
‘There have been different challenges all the way. But every time they’ve responded in a way which reflects the beliefs we have and the kind of football team we want to be. I’m just super-proud of the group.
‘I said to them before the game there are many ways you can finish something off — collapse through the finishing tape or go through it at top speed. And that’s what we want to do.
‘We’ll go hard on Wednesday and get back here and go hard again in the last game.’
When asked if he would rather be guaranteed the title with a Rangers slip-up straight away or to do it in front of Celtic’s support at Tannadice, he added: ‘I’ll win it any old way, mate, it doesn’t really bother me! What’s important is I think we’ve earned it and that we continue to earn it.
‘We’re strong, we’re committed to something. Our performances and the challenges we’re overcoming are reflecting that. Any way it comes is fine, and more importantly, I think it’s fully deserved.’
Postecoglou stressed there was much more to come from a squad that understandably took time to gel eight months ago as he recruited for his revolution.
‘They’ve all sort of come in at different times and a lot of them have had disrupted seasons,’ he said. ‘David Turnbull, an outstanding footballer, had a great start, then had to do his rehab. Matt O’Riley has been with us for four months and he’s only 21.
‘The responsibility lies with me and other staff to make sure we keep improving, because I know they want more.
‘The way we’re playing and the way we’ve played at times this year has been outstanding. So I don’t want to downplay that by saying we’re going to be better next year and dismiss the performances we’ve had this year.
‘But, with everything you do, you lay down a marker, and what you want to do is come back next time and hit a new target.’
One of his star signings, Benfica loan winger Jota, played a part in three goals and has been linked with a £6.5million permanent switch. Postecoglou would love to close that deal but he struck a cautious tone when asked if agreement was close.
He said: ‘If everyone wants something to happen, it’ll happen.
‘What this club offers in terms of the atmosphere, the opportunity to win trophies and play at the highest level in Europe — there’s only a rarefied group who can offer that.’