Ange shouldered responsibility for the turgid performance from Celtic this afternoon as they were beaten by St Mirren. Stephen Robinson’s hosts were solid and disciplined and curbed and Celtic looked devoid of ideas in front of goal.
The manager, who made six changes, told the media after the game that the team selection was part of the reason that the Celts fell to defeat in Paisley.
Ange was critical of the team’s performance but shouldered the blame as he made changes from the side that drew against Shakhtar in Poland.
“In every area we were not at the levels we are usually at, we did not show the right tempo and intensity to work through teams, in the course of what we have achieved in the last 15 months we were never getting too far ahead of ourselves.
“The team selection is on me, and I got that wrong, it is my responsibility.
“Its not like that anyone had a stand out performance, as a collective we just weren’t at the levels we needed to be the team that we wanted to be.
“Football always reminds you when you get ahead of yourself, we have a lot of work to do individually and today is a reminder of that.”
Daizen Maeda, Liel Abada, David Turnbull, Aaron Mooy, Tony Ralston and Stephen Welsh came in from the start. The first four were taken off by the manager whilst the latter two struggled to deal with balls into the box for St Mirren’s goals. The manager may have learnt the hard way that some of his squad players are not direct replacements for members of the first team.
Celtic now have thirteen days before the next game, a home fixture versus Motherwell. The International Break will mean for a period away from the challenges of October, where Ange’s team play ten games. This month will be pivotal in deciding where Celtic sit in the Champions League table as well as pushing forward in the league and League Cup.
