Ange Postecoglou watched Callum McGregor hit the 200th goal of his Celtic tenure - and claimed his captain will be a living legend long after he’s left Parkhead.
The returning skipper scored an 87th minute winner to beat Aberdeen at Pittodrie and keep the Hoops nine points clear at the top of the Premiership. It was McGregor’s first competitive game since October after a knee injury but it looked like he’d never been away. Postecoglou heaped praise on his skipper and told everyone else in the league that he’s only going to get better.
After a vital victory over the Dons, the Celtic boss said: “Cal was a bit rusty wasn’t he? No, he’s just an outstanding footballer. We did awfully well to cover his absence. But it doesn’t take away from the fact he is a fantastic player who makes our team better. His ability to link up play in the way we want to play is crucial.
“And he was key today. He was the one who sped up the game for us and slowed it down as we wore Aberdeen down.
“You would not know that he had missed so much football. He had an enormous number of passes and touches today then scored a fantastic goal.
“I’m pleased for him because he has worked hard to get to this place. Cal is a credit to himself and to this football club. And he is an outstanding leader.
“I don’t rank players I’ve managed - you treat them as special in their own way. But it doesn’t need me to say he’s an outstanding Celtic footballer who will be remembered long after I’m gone.
“And there’s more in him. He’s taken on the leadership role in the last year and a half and he’s grown in terms of his influence on the field.”
Celtic were frustrated by Aberdeen for long spells in the game before McGregor’s strike with three minutes left. But Postecoglou says even if they’d dropped points and opened the door for Rangers to close the gap in the table - he’d have been happy with their display.
In fact, the Aussie believes it’s one of the strongest performances of his reign as manager. He was delighted to hit the 200 goal mark after just 18 months in charge and insists they’ll never stop trying to score.
Postecoglou said: “It’s probably as dominant a performance as we have had this year, maybe last year as well. This is a difficult place to come to and I thought we controlled the game from start to finish.
“We didn’t get the goal until late which can add to the anxiety but there was zero of that in the lads' performance. They stayed disciplined, stayed controlled and I couldn’t be happier - not just about the points - but the way they went about things.
“You can get a little bit desperate. We had totally dominated the game.
“They had barely got into our half, let alone our box. But led by the skipper, the boys were controlled and disciplined and wore them down in the end. Sometimes in football you don’t get the rewards you deserve but today we did.
“My feeling and ambition is that we finish the season stronger than we started. If that happens, we don’t have to worry about anyone but ourselves.
“Sometimes you can fall into the trap of some sort of luxury distance where you can take your foot off the pedal. We’re not going to do that. I’m not going to allow us to be that kind of team.
“We’re going to go at it wherever we are in the league, first, second, whatever the points tally is or how many goals we’ve scored - it doesn’t matter.
“I don’t know if you can teach patience. But it’s part of our process here to play football in a certain way.
"You must have belief in that regardless of the scoreline or what minute it is in the game. Home or away, we don’t change. Whether we’re behind or in front, we don’t change.
“The players understand that and drive it themselves. In that situation, they’re not looking for some magic formula to unlock the opposition. We just keep doing what we’re doing.
"That’s as dominant as we’ve been in a game of football. And that’s who we want to be (200 goals). We want to win things but the manner in which you win is important as well.
“We want to be a team that starts with creating chances and then getting goals. Every game is an opportunity to put pressure on opponents and score more goals.”
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