Ange Postecoglou had little patience for irrelevant questions, as he faced up to the media after Celtic exited the Europa Conference League by way of a 5-1 aggregate defeat to Bodo Glimt.

The manager, when asked if he felt the Kjetil Knutsen’s side could win the tournament, gave the standard warning of incoming frustration as he dropped in the standard aggressive warning sign by using the word ‘mate’ to begin his response, as reported by Football Scotland.

“Mate, come on. Ask their coach. Why do I care? Really. Do you think I really care who wins this tournament now? We’re not going to win it. They’re a good team, I hope they keep going well, but I couldn’t care less who wins the tournament.”

Ange however was happy enough to discuss his disappointment, as he pointed to Celtic simply not reaching the standards they are capable of, both last night and in Glasgow a week ago. Postecoglou stated the performances in both those games were the poorest Celtic have produced in Europe this season, highlighting the fact he was even more satisfied with a 4-0 home defeat to Leverkusen than he was with either match against Bodo/Glimt.

“It was a disappointing night. I think it’s fair to say that, over the two games, we didn’t perform at the levels we needed to. We didn’t deserve to go through and Bodo deserved to win the tie. Over the two games, we have lacked a little bit of the intensity we need to bring to these games.

“We were still a bit too passive at the start and conceding the goal doesn’t help. Irrespective of that, our performance levels were not anywhere near where they should be over the two games. When that happens, you don’t progress. It’s not where I want to be. It’s where they have to be.

“We just didn’t perform. We have been pretty consistent this year in bringing a certain level of intensity and intent in our game and we haven’t for these two games. When you’re playing against good opposition in Europe, you get punished. That’s probably our two least effective performances in Europe this year.

“Even when we lost to Bayer Leverkusen 4-0, I still think we showed more intent than we have in these two games.”

And when asked if the domestic campaign coupled with the latter stages of European competition was a step too far for Celtic at this stage of his process, the manager was in no mood for allowing for such excuses before taking the ultimate responsibility for an abject performance over two legs on his own shoulders.

“If you’re at this football club, the expectation is that you do well in multiple competitions. You shouldn’t have to be unsuccessful to focus on something else. I think that’s a cop-out. We wanted to progress and we haven’t. That’s on to me. That’s my responsibility. We’ve got to improve.”

Perhaps Ange Postecoglou was sending a message to the board with his team selection last night, that Celtic’s rebuild is far from over, because his ’cop-out’ message was at odds with the first eleven he picked to chase a two-goal deficit in Norway last night.

The manager, who appeared to have surrendered any chance of progression with a weakened starting eleven, will already have known that some of the players chosen last night may be suitable for domestic rotation but are far from acceptable alternatives if Celtic intend to fight and compete on the home front and in European competition. Now it will be clear to anyone watching on that such paucity in depth was highlighted by a decent but far from spectacular European opponent.

Will those holding the purse string be paying attention, do they have the ambition the manager has to compete in European competition? Recent history would suggest not, as such there may be an interesting crossroads ahead for Ange Postecoglou’s ambitions and those of the Celtic boardroom.

Niall J