Ange Postecoglou spoke to the mixed media on Friday afternoon about how the Celtic squad has been shaping up in the aftermath of our League Cup Final victory over theRangers at Hampden Park. The manager only had one thing to say: that training was super competitive this week, despite just winning a trophy.
Today those words didn’t ring hollow, as we dragged ourselves back into the game and then eventually, just steamrolled through the opposing team as if they weren’t even there. It was a joy to behold when we really got into our flow in Paisley, and was nothing less than we deserved after the home side’s lacklustre attempt to even play the game we call football.
Before you strut your stuff in this Legaue, you have got to earn the right to play your football, your way. Ange knows this and he has never been shy in commanding the minimum of 100% effort out of everyone in this squad. We are relentless in our pursuit of standards – a pursuit that a certain other club always bangs on about themselves, but truly lacks in every meaning of the word itself.
Our equalising goal today by our superstar from Portugal, Felipe Jota, highlighted what Ange has been saying in the build-up to this encounter against the Buddies. You could see the determination and desire in Jota’s face and body language, as he fought and scrapped to get a touch to that ball before the St Mirren player.
It was a reminder that even though we have a plethora of talented individuals in this current Celtic team, nobody is above digging in and wanting to win first and foremost through sheer endeavour and workrate out there on the football pitch. It’s the cornerstone of Angeball and is sometimes forgotten when we look at the end product of sensational technical goals.
Today, Jota – bless him – didn’t have his greatest day in a Celtic shirt. But that didn’t matter; he played his part after the manager kept faith with him to deliver for us. Sure, he’s a wonderful technician and controller of the football, but this afternoon he got us back into that game with sheer competitive edge. There’s nothing soft about Jota, let me tell you. That equalizing goal was just pure aggression in nature and movement.
Desire. Nothing else. Desire to win for this football club.
Man it’s a good time to be alive!
Paul Gillespie
