Ange Postecoglou finally has a real Celtic squad to choose from

By John McGinley

October 15, 2021

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou finally has the squad and options available to him that provides tactical flexibility.

The Celtic boss delivered a promising injury update in his press conference today, stating that Mikey Johnston, James Forrest and Christopher Jullien have all returned to training.

That news, coupled with the improved fitness of Giorgos Giakoumakis and the all-clear given to the international contingent has resulted in Ange feeling as confident about his squad as he has been since arriving at the start of the summer.

He is relishing the prospect of having players at his disposal from the bench that can change games, starting tomorrow against Motherwell.

Speaking to the official club website, Postecoglou said: “It just makes the world of difference knowing that with Giakoumakis, Ajeti, Kyogo, Mikey Johnson back, Jota, Liel Abada, and James Forrest not far away, even on the bench tomorrow, we’ll have a couple of attacking players that I can throw on and help us with our momentum late in games, which we just haven’t been able to do before now.”

The Celtic bench has looked pretty ropey over the last six weeks with a whole host of young, untested talent drafted in to make up the numbers. At times there hasn’t been a single attacking player available past the starting eleven.

The squad finding fitness could and should be the catalyst we need to put together a consistent run of results, especially in a couple of weeks when the likes of Jullien and Forrest return to contention.

Are Celtic finally in a good place? A positive result tomorrow would certainly add to the optimistic feeling right now.

Fans are delighted of course, with many fans taking to Twitter today to share their thoughts on the injury news itself and the photos coming out of Lennoxtown of returning stars…

In other news, Ange Postecoglou delivers Celtic transfer and rebuild update after recent talks with board.