How Shaun Maloney was left feeling after exiting Celtic Park with his first defeat

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Shaun Maloney left Celtic Park feeling “very happy” and “proud” of his Hibs players despite being bossed 2-0 by Ange Postecoglou’s men.

The Easter Road club arrived at Parkhead unbeaten with 2 wins out of 2 games under Shaun’s stewardship. The former Celtic attacker’s managerial career is certainly being watched closely by Hoops supporters, and it was great to see him in the dugout in Glasgow last night even if it was the opposition one.

Celtic controlled the 90 minutes with Hibs only really creating one genuine goalscoring opportunity. However, what was noticeable about them was that they consistently tried to play out from the back even when under pressure. Celtic caught them out on several occasions, but their commitment to that approach never waned.

That seemed to leave Maloney in positive spirits as he headed back across the M8. Giving his opinion on his Celtic Park return via the Hibs website, Shaun said: “Mixed really. Obviously disappointed with the result, but after the start that we had I was very pleased with quite a few things. The players had a real mentality to keep going at 2-0 down and still tried to play the way that we believe would have been the best way for us to actually come back and win the game.

“I think for large parts of the game, I was very happy. We almost got into positions at times where we could be even more aggressive to attack, pass forward and take on the one on ones, but I think apart from that, to come here in my third game and play the way we did, I’m proud.

“I learnt a huge amount about their mentality, particularly when things are very, very difficult. They showed bravery to play under the pressure. Moving forward we have to try and use that amount of possession to create as much chances as possible. I’m really happy with parts of it, and it’s just that final part where we have to create more, but that’s my job as the coach.”

Shaun Maloney not fazed by Celtic Park defeat; shows class reaction to first setback

If we’re being frank about it, Maloney is the kind of figure Celtic fans would love to see in charge at Parkhead one day. A typical modern-day progressionist who has a demand of playing football on the deck and in a fast, attacking manner. You can see he’s picked that up from Belgium under Roberto Martinez.

However, before last night it had all been rosy for him with wins over Aberdeen and Dundee United respectively. He had yet to suffer a setback, and his demeanour post-match was always going to be interesting.

Shaun handled himself with total class during his post-match duties. Keeping things upbeat, he was happy to recognise Celtic’s quality whilst bigging up what his players did right. That’s exactly how he should’ve approached it. Yes he will have concerns, but he’s clearly saving them for the training pitch.

Last night was perfect from the Celtic fans’ perspective. Whilst we all wanted as big a winning margin as possible, it was as controlled and dominant a 2-0 win as we could’ve hoped for. Combine that with the fact that Maloney is able to leave pleased with his own side’s contribution, and it’s a very satisfactory night for the Hoops support.

Of course we aren’t the Shaun Maloney fan club. Celtic supporters have their own goals to be focusing on this season. We have a league title to recapture and that takes priority.

But hopefully Maloney can manage a strong second half of the campaign and have Hibs earning European status come the summer.

In other news, Rival fans bizarrely go into delusional meltdown after watching Celtic boss Hibs