Ange Postecoglou has confirmed why he decided to take Tom Rogic off in Celtic’s 7-0 win against St Johnstone yesterday.
The Hoops racked up an impressive 3-0 lead by half-time with some scintillating football on show. However, many were surprised to see Rogic hooked at the break despite a lively opening 45.
Matt O’Riley came on in his place and fired home a classy double – his first 2 goals at Parkhead. In the end, Celtic would run out 7-0 winners as the strength in depth of Ange’s squad was on full show.
But thankfully, Ange has put to rest any notion that Tom picked up a niggle in the opening half. Instead, he confirmed that it was just a case of giving another player an opportunity to shine.
As quoted by the Daily Record, Ange said: “Tom is fine, it was just a decision of mine. He had done his work and I was pretty keen to get Matty some game time.
“It was a bit of a false start last week, coming on and then off [for O’Riley]. I am mindful of how hard all these guys are working and I want to give them opportunities in case we need them.”
Tom Rogic bags well-earned rest as O’Riley takes his big Celtic opportunity
It probably didn’t enter the thinking of many Celtic fans that the game was already won. Taking Rogic off at half-time was always going to lead to some concerns over whether a knock was sustained. Especially considering he hadn’t gotten on the scoresheet yet himself.
Thankfully, that doesn’t appear to be the case. Instead, Tom looks to be fit and healthy and ready to get going against Rangers for next week’s Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden.
O’Riley, of course, will have been grateful for the opportunity. He wasn’t given the chance to make much of an impact in the 2-1 Glasgow Derby win last week due to picking up an injury of his own. But it’s fair to say that’s been shrugged off after his exquisite brace yesterday.
Ange has shown that he isn’t fearful of giving players opportunities if he feels they’re deserved. He’s happy to take players off at half-time if he feels the job is done and changes can be made without it affecting the result in a negative manner.
But even though we’re inching closer to the league championship, we still have to be wary. There are still 2 derby matches left this season and potentially a Scottish Cup final on the horizon.
We need all of our top stars fit and ready to go if called upon. Keeping Rogic fresh for future challenges was a shrewd move.
In other news, Celtic’s Matt O’Riley wowed after playing with Kyogo for the first time yesterday
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