Michael Stewart has lauded the “phenomenal” Celtic improvement under Ange Postecoglou this season as he shrugged off Robbie Neilson’s refereeing complaints.
The Hearts manager has again come out of a game against Celtic moaning about the refereeing performance. Giorgos Giakoumakis’ goal last night looked like it could’ve been a fraction offside. But Hearts striker Liam Boyce’s second-half effort was undoubtedly off. Neilson, unsurprisingly, has moved to criticise the decision on a night when he also got a penalty awarded [The Herald].
The truth is that what happened in terms of decisions shouldn’t detract from what was a fine Celtic performance. The Hoops showed 2 sides to their game last night, and it was a colossal win for the manager.
And Stewart believes the improvement in Celtic has been top-drawer since losing 2-1 at Hearts on opening day.
Speaking on Sportscene last night, Stewart said: “I still think we would be debating it because it is so marginal [if we had VAR]. I don’t think you can have too much of a criticism of the officials there because it is so tight. Giakoumakis’ finish is top drawer, it was a real class finish.
“I can understand Ange Postecoglou, it was the same at Celtic Park when he was talking about these decisions are not the defining factor. They do have a big factor on the game, but equally, the performance of the team has a big factor to play. So those two things co-exist for me. Referees decisions make a big impact and the performance of the team.
“The improvement in Celtic since Ange Postecoglou’s come in is phenomenal, it really is. Obviously, a lot of additions have been brought into the team as well. But there’s no question that Celtic are moving in the right direction with Postecoglou in charge.”
Ange Postecoglou has made incredible strides in Glasgow
When you think back of that opening day loss to Hearts at Tynecastle, it’s certainly night and day to what we saw last night.
Players playing out of position, youngsters being thrown into the starting line-up when they’re not ready, and new signings not being ready for action. All of these things were a problem on our last visit to Edinburgh. Fair to say we looked a different animal last night.
New signings have bedded in whilst we had plenty of depth on show. To think we had so many players missing and still managed to play our way to a big win. Compare that to how we coped with players missing back in August.
Neilson can have no complaints with what went on last night. His team was given an offside goal and a penalty to try and get themselves back into the game. That they didn’t take both chances is on them. Celtic still did the business they needed to carry out.
It was a huge win in the title race. The kind of match Rangers would’ve had marked as potential dropped points for the Hoops. Coming through this fixture is a major step and one we can be proud of.
Now, it’s all about Saturday and Dundee United at Celtic Park. With 3 wins out of 3 in 2022 so far, Ange will be confident his side can continue their perfect start to the year.
In other news, One of the most welcome Celtic sights at Tynecastle last night was off the pitch
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