Liam Scales has stated that Ange Postecoglou is right to be fuming with his Celtic stars as he states he demands they operate at peak level regardless of the opposition.
Celtic didn’t need to be at their best to swat aside Raith Rovers and progress into the Scottish Cup quarter-finals. However, the 4-0 win was only really secured after Ange had to call on the cavalry from the bench to do the damage.
The manager was left furious with his fringe stars for failing to get the job securely done before the subs had to be called [Daily Record]. It was a massive disappointment given the recent run of form, and it’s clearly something that got to Ange.
And Scales, who played the full 90 and hammered home a fine opener in the 4-0 rout, has backed his boss as he revealed his demands to constantly put in top performances regardless of who they’re playing.
As quoted by the Daily Record, Scales said: “There were mixed emotions as we didn’t quite get to our levels in the first half. We were much better in the second half and it’s good to progress in the competition. But it says the standards are very high here. The scoreline looked good but the performance wasn’t where it needed to be.
“The manager got that message across it wasn’t good enough and you saw the difference in the second half. I’m not sure why, we just weren’t clicking. It happens in football but we needed to be quicker and Raith did quite well. It’s a reminder the standards are so high. He wants us on top of our game no matter who we are playing against – and rightly so.
“It’s obviously frustrating for him when we are not getting to the levels we know we can. He has to get his point across, like every manager does. The competition is high here and everyone wants to do well when they get their chance, so it’s disappointing when you don’t hit those levels.”
Ange Postecoglou’s long-term vision at Celtic doesn’t include sloppy performances
You have to love this. You would have absolutely no idea that we managed to overcome Raith by 4 goals yesterday. In fact, anyone who didn’t know the score and read Postecoglou’s comments would think we were bundled out the cup.
The truth is that Celtic were extremely comfortable in the game. There was no stage in the match in which we were in any danger of going out. Far from it in fact. It was routine enough and Raith barely tested Joe Hart in goal whatsoever.
What’s irked Ange is that the term “comfortable” is probably as kind as you can be about the performance levels of his fringe players. This is a manager that builds his teams to be excitable. He wants fans to come to Parkhead, forget about their problems, and enjoy 90 minutes of total non-stop attacking football. So when it comes to ‘comfortable” performances, that’s never going to cut it.
Look, it could be a lot worse. We could’ve slipped up and experienced what would’ve been one of the most famous Scottish Cup results in history, or infamous from a Celtic perspective. We’re through and ultimately Ange will have given them a well done at some stage in his team talk for managing to progress.
But there are standards being set at this football club. Standards that need to be achieved consistently. It’s allright putting in a performance like that against Raith. But the problem is it can lead to a trend. What if that same poor display is then put in against Bodo/Glimt, for example? They won’t be so forgiving. Ange is right to hammer his point home.
Thankfully, things changed when first-teamers such as Jota and Liel Abada came on. Callum McGregor also wasn’t on the pitch, so that suggests the first-choice XI are still operating at peak level. But this is a big warning for the fringe-players and they need to take it on board quickly.
In other news, 2021 UEFA rule change now suits Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic perfectly
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