Craig Gordon admits he was impressed with Ange Postecoglou's Celtic

By David Walton

August 2, 2021

Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon has admitted he was impressed with Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic and what the Australian manager is trying to do.

The former Hoops goalkeeper was part of the reason Celtic failed to get the job done in Gorgie. A 2-1 defeat to kickstart our 2021/22 Premiership campaign certainly wasn’t in the script.

Celtic enjoyed just under 75% possession and managed 19 shots in what was a dominant display in that sense [BBC]. But the same old frailties came back to haunt us with the goals coming from two cross-balls.

Even so, Hearts goalkeeper Gordon was left confident that Celtic will score plenty this season under the new man.

As quoted by the Herald, Gordon said: “Certainly, if Celtic play like that they are going to score goals and win games. I think Celtic are steadily finding their feet. We know it’s a rebuilding job for them.

“They showed signs of a team coming together – they moved the ball very well and made it very difficult for us. I’m just thankful we were able to deal with it. We had to give up a lot of possession and take the pressure. From Celtic’s side of things if they can continue to do that they will score goals.

“We’ve got an excellent result. Celtic had a lot of the ball and played some really good stuff going forward and we had to work so, so hard to cope with that. So it was a big moment for us to start the season with a good result.”

Craig Gordon assessment not wrong; Celtic fans know Ange Postecoglou will suffer bumps on the road

You can’t argue with Gordon’s assessment here. Celtic enjoyed far too much dominance at Tynecastle for similar performances not to end in victories.

However, what was concerning was the lack of clear-cut chances. Yes, Gordon made two big stops at the end to deny James Forrest and Carl Starfelt. But what about before the final few moments? Chances were at a premium.

It was undoubtedly a sore one to take. But in fairness, Celtic fans know that there are going to be bumps in the road under Ange Postecoglou. He’ll get time from us to put things right. So long as the signs are there, Celtic fans will generally be satisfied.

It’s easy to say you’ll give the manager time, it’s another to show it. Every negative result is another tester of the Celtic fans’ patience. But there’s no denying the manager has been given a ridiculous hand by the boardroom. That’s something the support can see as a collective.

Yet even so, Celtic have the players to be winning at Tynecastle. We have a squad capable of winning anywhere they go in Scotland. It’s down to Postecoglou to get some form of tune out of them.

There were positives and negatives to be taken from our opening-day fixture. So long as those are built on against Jablonec on Thursday night, the Celtic support will be able to rest easier.

In other news, Report: Odsonne Edouard unsure over potential Celtic to Brighton move