Hearts manager Robbie Neilson has claimed that his team ‘absolutely rattled’ Celtic today, despite losing yet another match to the Bhoys.
Neilson has faced Celtic on 16 occasions as a manager, losing 13 of them and winning just once – when Ange Postecoglou had been in the country for a matter of weeks.
The Tynecastle side have now lost the last six matches in succession against Postecoglou’s outfit and, even with the benefit of controversial VAR calls in a chaotic game, could not find a result today.
After the match, he told Sky Sports: “We are still missing two of our centre-halves. This period has been tough and we’ve been losing goals. But there were positives for us today.
“We went toe to toe, and we absolutely rattled Celtic today. They brought on quality at the end and got their goals. But they didn’t have to work too hard for their goals, and that’s the disappointing thing.”
It’s the typical lack of credit we’ve come to expect from the Hearts boss. If you take his comments at face value, you’d think Celtic were lucky to get a win today – that wasn’t the case at all.
Had an Anthony Ralston goal not been bizarrely chalked off, or a clear Michael Smith handball resulted in a penalty, the pattern of the match would have been very different.
In the end, in an enthralling game, Celtic showed their mettle and composure. There was no collapse. In fact, there were solid responses to all of the Hearts goals.
I’m not really should you can ‘rattle’ a team on the way to a victory and three points anyway. It’s strange to be proud of doing so.
In other news, Ange Postecoglou takes aim at what rival managers are saying about Celtic.
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