“He’s the Greek god, not me? OK, fair enough,” Ange on Giakoumakis praise

Ange Postecoglou spoke to Celtic TV after the 4-0 win over Ross County yesterday. Usually Ange keeps his wittier comments for the hacks and it’s always a joy to behold when one of them gets on his wrong side and pays a hefty price! Yesterday Celtic TV gave Ange an open goal when they referred to Giorgios Giakoumakis as our Greek god and Ange wasn’t going to miss his chance, although to be fair the Celtic TV chap got off fairly lightly!

Here’s what happened…

Giorgos Giakoumakis of Celtic scores celebrates after he scores their side’s fourth goal during the Cinch Scottish Premiership match between Celtic FC and Ross County FC at on March 19, 2022. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

What did you make of the performance? We obviously started the game really well – good intensity, good tempo and our football was good as well. I said to the boys that we’d had a couple of tough away trips where we’ve done really well from the defensive side of the game but, back at home, we’d have some more opportunities to be more aggressive with the ball. I thought we were.

As a contest it was almost tied up after 25 minutes but how pleased were you with the application until the final whistle? Yeah, it was good. I mean, it’s not always easy, you know, you kind of think ‘we’re well ahead’ and they go down to 10 men but with them sitting down and with no intent to get out we just had to be patient. The boys kept their discipline and credit to them. It’s been a great block of performances since the break and we’ve capped it off tonight with a really dominant one.

The sun came out today and our Greek god inspired a hat-trick, how pleased are you with the form he is showing at the minute and the smile he has on his face? He’s the Greek god, not me? OK, fair enough. He’s done well, he’s taken his goals really well. But, again, he benefits from the good work of others and he knows that. It’s important to make sure he keeps working hard for the team – and he does that as well.

So as I said, with all our strikers, the rewards are there with the way we played but you’ve got to invest in that by working hard when we don’t have the ball. Both him and Daizen (Maeda) today were super with our press. I thought all three of them were, Jota was really good.

Another word for those players who have got international recognition – you have even more of them going away now so I’m sure you wish them all the best but is it with fingers crossed,  It’s one of those things where they could get injured training with us so I don’t worry about that too much. I’ve said all week that I think it’s a great experience for them. I think it will do them the world is good to get away from the sort of routine club environment and hopefully when they come back they’re ready to go.

And here’s the hat-trick hero and Man of the Match Giorgios Giakoumakis speaking to Celtic TV after yesterday’s game. If he scores a hat-trick in his next game for Celtic we’ll all be calling him our Greek God.

About Author

The Celtic Star founder and editor, who has edited numerous Celtic books over the past decade or so including several from Lisbon Lions, Willie Wallace, Tommy Gemmell and Jim Craig. Earliest Celtic memories include a win over East Fife at Celtic Park and the 4-1 League Cup loss to Partick Thistle as a 6 year old. Best game? Easy 4-2, 1979 when Ten Men Won the League. Email editor@thecelticstar.co.uk

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