Vasilis Barkas and Albian Ajeti both started for Ange Postecoglou yesterday as the Australian boss selected his first ever Celtic side. The keeper got the dubious distinction of losing the first goal of the new era at Celtic – and to make matter worse it was to the former Ibrox striker Josh Windass – while the striker got the more impressive honour of netting the first goal for the new gaffer in the 3-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday.
Both players however will join the rest of the squad who endured a season to forget last season in having what happened then scrubbed as far as Postecoglou is concerned. Speaking after the opening day win at the pre-season camp in Newport, South Wales, the Aussie made this point.
“Everyone starts with a clean slate. Everyone’s got an opportunity to show what they can do,” Postecoglou stated to Celtic TV.
“Everyone will be disappointed with last year. The whole playing group and all the staff come back determined to make amends for what happened.
“The important thing is how you react this year, how you’re training and what your attitude is like. I’ve got no complaints about any of the players,” he added, although perhaps that should have been revised to exclude Leigh Griffiths, who is no longer part of the training camp after being sent home as the club investigates the latest scandal he seems to have got himself involved in. That’s a matter for the club – and if reports are accurate Police Scotland – so it best parked on here. Back to Ange on the football…
“It was a difficult year for everyone. When you’re coming into a new club you want them to get settled as quickly as they can off the field. I’m sure Barky and a few of the boys struggled a little bit but that’s in the past now. Now it’s an opportunity for all of them to embrace what we’re doing.
“If they want to be part of what’s happening they just have to show me with their performances in training and matches.”
The performance of the former Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Liam Shaw against his old teammates was also worth noting in what was a very decent afternoon for Celtic. “He was good. Liam was one of the ones who grew into the game,” Ange noted.
“He’s got real presence about him. He’s a big lad. He’s only beginning his steps in the professional world. But I’m not even thinking about starters or non-starters. We’ve just got the bulk of the squad back for this camp.
We’ve had literally two sessions with them. We’ve got a lot of work to do. The key thing is we try to get everyone in great condition for the first game. In terms of who starts, there’s plenty of time to think about that.”
Please with the performance and indeed the win, the Celtic manager focused more on the former as the objective yesterday was to assess what he’s got at his disposal and to get minutes into the legs of the players he’s been working with for the past few weeks. “The result’s not that important. Today they were trying to do the things we have implemented. But it’s still very early. As long as the intent is there I’m happy,” Ange added.
