It has been the only blip in Celtic’s domestic campaign.
But Ange Postecoglou doesn’t go along with the theory that Celtic were off colour during their loss at St Mirren because of their all-grey strips. That 2-0 defeat in Paisley back in September is the only black mark for the champions so far. Celts are set to don the third-choice kit again against Stephen Robinson’s side – but the Australian isn’t buying into the belief he’s tempting fate.
That solitary loss against the Buddies was a wake-up call for the Parkhead side. Postecoglou issued a blunt assessment of their faults that afternoon but it has been the catalyst for a domestic run of 23 wins from their last 24 games. The grey strip brings to mind Manchester United’s jinxed top that prompted legendary boss Alex Ferguson to swap it for more traditional attire at half-time during their 3-1 loss to Southampton back in 1996.
But the Hoops gaffer was having none of it when asked about a possible clash. He said: “C’mon mate. There will be numbers on their shirts and shorts and I am sure they can tell who is wearing a similar one.
“We are going to play in grey again. I don’t like it either but it is what it is, what people said on the day and what I thought was it is harder to distinguish between players than it would be if there was a clearer distinction between the strips.
“But it is the referee’s decision and we abide by the referee’s decision.”
Postecoglou prefers to put their defeat in Paisley down to something less scientific – a bad day at the office that proved to be a valuable learning curve. He said: “We obviously didn’t play well. St Mirren did and we bore the consequences of that.
“We reviewed the game back, saw where we went wrong, addressed the issues and it is fair to say that, since then, the team have been pretty good Even though we had started really well we were still building into the season.
“Our performance levels have improved and got stronger so we want to continue that until the end of the year.”
St Mirren are the only side in the Premiership to have shut out Celtic in consecutive games at home and Postecoglou was fulsome in his praise of a side that are a tough nut to crack. He said: “They are a difficult team to play against.
“If you look at their position in the table, you can see they are consistent. Particularly at home, they have got some great results so they are always a challenging opposition.
“But for us nothing changes. We just have to play our football and when we do that, when we successfully impose our style on games, we are hard to stop.”
Celtic also have a double-header with Hearts on the horizon with a league game in Glasgow on Wednesday before heading to Tynecastle for a Scottish Cup clash on Saturday. Postecoglou is gearing up for the challenge as he looked back at the good and the bad of a 4-3 Premiership win in Gorgie last October that coincided with the introduction of video technology and the controversies that would bring.
He said: “Of course you can enjoy it. From my perspective it is about us putting in a strong performance and we did that and it was converted into a win. That is the thing we can control.
"If it is an exciting game, great. If it is not an exciting game but we have performed well then we will take that as well. But yeah, it was an exciting day and we performed well against a strong opponent.
“It was also the debut of VAR so that game will be down in folklore forever. Every time we play at Tynecastle it is a great atmosphere, we went there for their first game after being promoted from the Championship (a 2-1 loss in July 2021) so it was a bit of a celebration for Robbie Neilson and the Hearts team that day and their crowd were up for it.”
The fixtures are coming thick and fast for Celtic who are aiming to bank a Treble. But Postecoglou isn’t daunted by the crowded diary and the upcoming double-header against the Jambos, instead, he insists the novelty is to be embraced.
He said: “That is part of the landscape here. What we try to do as a group is not lump things together but treat every game as a new challenge and an opportunity to improve.
“When you do that, even when you are playing the same opponent again, you can still tackle things in a different way. We will still have a really strong mindset about it.
“We went through it with Kilmarnock with a league game backing up into the semi-final of the League Cup four days apart. So you kinda understand with the quirk of the fixtures here that is how it happens – but we never lump them together, they are different opportunities.”
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