Ange Postecoglou was unhappy with the first half performance and that roar from Ange was heard at the back of the North Stand. It must have been scary for the players on the park!
— Tam sellic son (@TamsellicsonIII) February 13, 2022
Afterwards Ange explained that he was unhappy with the first 45 minutes as the players simply did not work hard enough, taking the foot off the gas after Liam Scales had given Celtic the lead.
Watch Ange explaining his annoyance to both Premier Sports and Celtic TV then read every word the Celtic Manager had to say to BBC Sportsound afterwards…
And here’s how Ange Postecoglou’s post-match interview with BBC Sportsound after the 4-0 Scottish Cup win over Raith Rovers yesterday afternoon went…
You are into the next round of the Scottish Cup, what was your view on the overall performance? We weren’t great in the first half and we didn’t work hard enough and didn’t play with a tempo and took too many touches on the ball. It was disappointing. It was a comfortable 45 minutes but it is not what we are after. The second half was better and we started off with a lot more tempo and we were brighter. The substitutes made a big difference when they came on and we are through to the next round.
You showed a rare moment of frustration on the touchline, what wasn’t clicking in the first half? It was just some basic fundamentals to our game which you can’t get away from. For all our good football and talented players, the cornerstone of it is hard work. If you get through that 45 minutes and you work hard and you are winning 1-0 then that’s fine but that’s not what I am after. I want to continually improve our football and be the best team we can possibly be and I thought in the first 45 minutes we kind of just looked for a comfortable win that would take us into the next round and away we go. I am not going to let that happen.
There are individuals not getting starts, do you expect more from them? It’s a collective thing. It is difficult when I have made seven changes to the team and I know that it is not going to be as fluent or cohesive and I understand that. It is not about me singling out individuals as we have intent and an ambition to be a certain kind of team and the players are well aware of what is involved as we work on it every day. It is very intense so when it comes to the game day it becomes second nature and we play with intent right from the start. I thought collectively we lacked urgency and it doesn’t matter who starts or who doesn’t. We were comfortable enough at 1-0 but we never really created anything. I was not going to let that happen at half-time and to the player’s credit, it was a good response.
Jota showed what he is all about but Mikey Johnston look distressed, what is the situation with him? Mikey got a knock on his ankle and we do not know the extent of it yet. It was pretty sore but I am not sure yet.
The reaction when Christopher Jullien came on showed what the supporters think of him. How valuable will he be as the weeks go on? It was good to get him some game time as he has been working really hard. Footballers always want to play and training after a while can become a grind. Hopefully, the 20 or so minutes will give him encouragement to keep working hard and he will help us.
You set your expectation for what you want to achieve in Europe, how important is that in developing this team further? It is paramount. We can’t be a team that just sort of accepts certain things. As well as we are going we want to be better. To be better you have got to keep testing yourself against opposition in the league and the cups and in Europe. This is a great chance for us to compare ourselves against the rest of Europe. The whole idea is that you represent this football club and certainly from my perspective I will never let people get comfortable or think what we’ve done is enough. I know there is more in them and they can explore that by working hard and taking on every opponent.
Here are the match highlights…
