A PHRASE that Ange Postecoglou used during a Lennoxtown training session which was filmed and broadcast on Celtic TV not long after the Greek-Australian arrived in Scotland last year has become a mantra for his side.
“We never stop,” said Postecoglou as he put his players through their paces at the end of his first week in this country.
That has very much proved to be the case since; Callum McGregor and his team mates have battled to the bitter end in every match they have played and have recorded important victories thanks to late and often injury-time goals on numerous occasions.
It should really have been no great surprise when they finally managed to wear down Aberdeen’s stubborn resistance as they returned to action following the World Cup break at Pittodrie yesterday afternoon.
They left it until the 87th minute – when McGregor rifled beyond Kelle Roos from the edge of the hosts’ penalty box after being teed up by substitute James Forrest - to break the deadlock.
But did anyone inside the stadium or watching on television at home doubt that they would? They have done it against Dundee United, St Johnstone and Ross County this season and did it against Aberdeen, Ross County, Dundee United and Dundee last term. This is a Celtic side which never, as the old saying goes, knows when it is beat.
Their supporters revel in their heroes’ willingness to fight for every ball from kick-off to the final whistle and that admirable trait certainly reflects well on Postecoglou’s motivational abilities. Much has been said and written about the tactics which he favours. But a coach’s gameplan is worthless if his charges fail to buy into it and are unwilling to their bodies on the line. His men clearly do and are.
Should the Scottish champions and top flight leaders, though, not be killing off their opponents far earlier? Do they run the risk of slipping up in the title race by not doing so? Or of losing in one of the cup competitions?
The 1-0 triumph at the weekend restored their nine point advantage over Rangers – who had beaten Hibernian 3-2 at Ibrox on Thursday evening – at the top of the table.
It is very difficult to see them being caught by their injury-ravaged city rivals in the second half of the 2022/23 campaign given their form, momentum and strength in depth.
Josip Juranovic was absent yesterday. The right back was on the bench for Croatia at the World Cup third place play-off in Qatar later that afternoon. But Anthony Ralston came in and enjoyed a decent game.
He was involved in a passage of play in the second-half which should have seen Celtic take the lead. The defender sent half-time replacement Liel Abada in behind the Aberdeen defence with a perfectly-weighted pass and the winger squared to Kyogo Furuhashi inside him. Somehow the Japanese striker shot wide from a few yards out.
The fact that he had not played competitively for over four weeks was perhaps the reason for Furuhashi’s out-of-sorts showing. The man who has been on target 11 times this season was also not helped by the ultra-defensive approach which the hosts took to proceedings. They had nine men in and around their penalty box for pretty much the duration of the encounter.
Still, the failure to seriously test Roos will have to be addressed if they want to complete a clean sweep of domestic silverware.
Postecoglou enjoyed an outstanding debut season at Celtic and led his team to a League Cup and Premiership double. But it would have been a treble if they had converted their opportunities up front against Rangers in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden in April. They allowed their adversaries to stage a comeback, level and win in extra-time.
The Glasgow club have an abundance of players who can find the back of the net – no fewer than 15 of them have done so since the Premiership got underway back in July - so there can be no excuses for not showing greater ruthlessness.
The criticism that was levelled at Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin following the game on Saturday – their legendary captain Willie Miller claimed it was “unacceptable” on BBC Radio Scotland’s Sportsound programme – would not have been so scathing if they had held out for a few more minutes and collected a point.
Dons fans were unhappy that the home team had failed to register a single shot on target during the course of the 90 minutes. However, they certainly broke forward on the counter attack on several occasions. Their display, too, was a vast improvement on the 4-1 loss they suffered at the hands of Rangers at Ibrox back in October when they pushed bodies forward with reckless abandon.
“There are many ways to win a game of football,” said Goodwin. “We tried to frustrate them and it worked for long periods. I felt this was the best way to go to give us a chance of getting a result.”
Who is to say that persevering with the same 5-3-2 formation against Michael Beale’s team on Tuesday evening will not work for Aberdeen?
Only a moment of brilliance denied them a draw. Forrest backheeled the ball to his old mucker McGregor and the skipper, returning to action after nine weeks out with a knee injury, made no mistake. It capped a dream comeback and augurs well for him and his side going forward.
Next up is Livingston at home in the Premiership on Wednesday night. David Martindale’s side are sure to prove just as difficult to break down. They certainly were on their last visit to the East End of Glasgow last season when they drew 0-0 after Giorgos Giakoumakis failed to convert an injury-time penalty kick.
It is an opportunity for Celtic to show they can deal with opponents who park the bus, play anti-football, call it what you will, and go one better than what they achieved last season.
