It's one of the most famous grins in Scottish football but on Tuesday night it was more of a grimace.
Kyogo Furuhashi has lit up the game in this county but the smiling assassin has had more of a frown of late.The free header he fluffed before half-time in Tuesday’s Champions League defeat to RB Leipzig summed up a frustrating night for the Japan star and there were a few other moments when things just didn’t quite go his way.
It was always going to be impossible to maintain the incredible form of last season and the sensational start to this one. For a while it seemed everything he touched turned to goal and resulted in the pearly whites coming out again. But after a sensational spell of six goals in four games back in August, it’s been just one goal in seven since and the fans are desperate to see their hero’s frown turned upside down.
Kyogo doesn’t need to worry about his gaffer getting cross though. Ange Postecoglou shot down any suggestion the ace has gone off the boil and he’s convinced it’s only a matter of time before his output is smiles better again.
The Hoops boss said: “I don’t think people can be too harsh on him. Last week he set up Jota for a fantastic goal that he created. Champions League goals are hard to come by but I don’t think he has been any less threatening.
“He is still getting into good positions and he has been unlucky on a couple of occasions and I still think he really causes teams problems.
“Domestically we have had to juggle him a bit. People forget he was in great form and then hurt his shoulder which kept him out for a few weeks so he was a little bit disrupted. He is still a player who does very well for us.”
It’s not just Kyogo that Postecoglou has found himself defending in recent days. Another damaging Champions League defeat has seen some sniping after months of adoration.
Celtic are bottom of Group F and although the Hoops have been in the fight in every game, they have been lumped in to the mass inquest going on after Rangers were whipped by Liverpool and Hearts humbled again by Fiorentina. Some point to Club Brugge reaching the last 16, Maccabi Haifa beating Juventus, and ask why are their side struggling.
Postecoglou said: “Look at those clubs historically. Have they always had those results? They haven’t, I’ll tell you. What it means is, the longer you’re in this competition, the more opportunities you have to grow and make an impact but you’re not going to go in there for the first time and expect you’re going to dominate the most prestigious club competition in the world.
“We earned the right to be in this competition, we know the areas we’ve come up short in but at no stage do I, or any objective observer, believe we’ve looked out of place.”
Postecoglou is just as impatient as any fan to make an impact on the biggest stage but he has to accept it doesn’t happen overnight.
He said: “It’s about being at that level and having the chance to play at that level on a consistent basis. That means having to qualify for it and every year you want to grow.
“That’s what our objective needs to be, like most clubs our size. If you take away the big five leagues, the clubs that have made an impact at Champions League level are the ones that are consistent qualifiers for it. If this was our fifth or sixth year of being in the competition on the spin, I’d be having a different discussion.
“It’s all about perspective, what you’re trying to achieve. This is our first year back in for five years. I’m not going to accept people suggesting that somehow we haven’t earned our place or let the game in this country down.”
There was a fire in Postecoglou’s belly yesterday and that might mean bad news for Hibs today. It can be hard to raise the levels for league games on the back of the Champions League but the Aussie will make his usual demands on his players and doesn’t accept his side could be more vulnerable.
Postecoglou said: “I don’t think so but there is a challenge there because they are high quality games and they do take it out of players emotionally and physically.
We are trying to balance that by making sure that we rotate and make sure players have a clear mindset. We also don’t ever change our approach.”
Hibs are a live threat though having shown signs of getting their act together under Lee Johnson after a bumpy start.
Postecoglou said: “They are in good form coming here. Lee has come in and has changed the squad a bit and you can see they are playing the kind of football he wants them to play. We need to make sure we pay close attention to the game.”
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