Ange Postecoglou has praised his Celtic side rectifying their disappointing early-season away form.
When Ange took the job, the Bhoys hadn’t won away from Parkhead since February. Early opportunities in his tenure, against Hearts and Rangers, were ultimately fruitless. Another loss, against Livingston, made the problem look very serious indeed.
It was starting to look worryingly like 20-21. The Hoops drew 7 games and lost 3 on the road [SPFL].
However, Celtic have turned it around against Aberdeen, and never looked back. The Hoops have beaten Motherwell, Hibernian, Dundee, Dundee United, Ross County and St Johnstone, all on the road. Ferencvaros were also dispatched, on a trip to Hungary.
It’s definite improvement. And Ange Postecoglou addressed the upturn in away form, saying [Sky Sports]: “We had to be [better away from home].
“I mean, that’s part of if you want to challenge for honours, you’ve got to be strong home and away.
“We did get off to a slow start this year away from home. But we’ve rectified that, and for us, it doesn’t really matter [where we are], it’s about playing our football.
“Improvement was always going to be logical because of our starting point, if you look back then. It was a frenetic and chaotic time for us. Lot of change, lot of players coming in, lot of players leaving. We were far from seamless, we’ve chipped away since then.
“We’re definitely a different side from back then, we needed to be.”
For Ange Postecoglou, arresting away form problems was crucial to Celtic tenure
Now, ahead of a massive game at Tynecastle, we’d do well not to get complacent about Celtic playing away from home.
This particular fixture has already tripped us up this season.
But it’s undoubtedly a much better picture now than it was then. There’s less of the utter fear about how Celtic would do away from Parkhead. At home, we’re utterly imperious domestically; we’re undefeated, and have only conceded twice [SPFL]. Now, our travels are matching what we’re capable of in front of 60,000 Hoops supporters.
It’s self-evident, but it’s right; to have any hope of silverware, winning on the road is absolutely crucial. Many clichés apply here; it’s about quieting the home crowd, not changing your style of play and so on.
Postecoglou, though, has a consistent tactical approach and methodology regardless of who we’re playing, and where. That’s crucially important, and we’ve seen it in previous successful managerial regimes.
This was one of the biggest issues needing fixed by Ange at Celtic. So far, you can’t argue too much with the results.
Tonight, though, is another big, big test for Celtic and Ange Postecoglou.
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