Reo Hatate partied on the Tynecastle pitch with his teammates after Celtic secured a second successive Premiership title.
But that was more than he did out on the Gorgie grass than in the first half according to his boss. The Hoops found themselves n a real game against Hearts as they looked to clinch their crown in the first game after the split. Interim boss Steven Naismith had his team fired up and they were well on top as the sluggish Celts struggled to get to grips with the hosts.
An Alex Cochrane red card helped swing things in their favour, and they eventually got the win they required thanks to goals from Kyogo and Oh as the Jambos nursed a sense of injustice over being reduced to ten men. It was all smiles afterwards, but Ange Postecoglou was less than impressed at half-time and singled out Hatate for some specific instructions.
He was told to get his act together in order for the Hoops manager to bother watching the second half. Writing in his Sportiva column, the Japanese international explained: “When Ange appeared in the dressing room during the halftime match against Hearts, he said to me while using the video. 'Reo hasn't been able to play the role he wants in both offense and defense. He's not working hard at all.'
“Hearing those words, I felt a switch flip in my own body and mind. ‘If you say that far, I'll definitely watch the second half.’ Should I say that my fighting spirit has been ignited? Still he was calm.
“In the limited time, I sorted out my movements in the first half. In addition, the opponent sent off a player just before the end of the first half, and the number of players decreased by one, so I thought that I should be able to attack more in the second half.
“Also, just because you were told that you weren't working hard, don't just run blindly or just increase the amount of exercise.”
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