Queens Park boss Owen Coyle has revealed the details of a bounce game at Lennoxtown against Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side in midweek.
It has been a very different summer of preparations for the Hoops, heading into the 2022/23 campaign, with no European qualifiers on the horizon.
Instead, Ange Postecoglou and his squad had an uninterrupted spell on the training ground, with their first competitive game coming at the end of July in league action against Aberdeen.
The prospect of no European qualifiers has also meant that during August, the Bhoys have only faced one game per week, with more time to work on the training ground in between fixtures.
Of course, the fixture schedule is due to ramp up, with a trip to Ross County on the final Wednesday of this month. However, the next two games allow for Celtic to rest and recuperate before getting back to action.
Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou knows that his side needs to be ready for the fixture schedule to step up and has been planning to work on this by setting up a series of bounce games at the club’s training ground.
Newly promoted Scottish Championship side Queens Park were the chosen opponents for a friendly last week, with their manager Owen Coyle revealing details from the game.
The former Burnley and Ross County boss named ten first-team stars who were involved from the start and opened up on his first experience of facing a Postecoglou side, stating that the Bhoys were ‘bang at it’.
Speaking in an interview about new signing Malachi Boateng being involved in last week’s bounce game, he said [The Herald]: “We then went up to Lennoxtown on Wednesday, and the team Ange played was incredible.
“Mal played the game, and he was terrific. The midfield was Aaron Mooy, James McCarthy, James Forrest, and Liel Abada were wide.
“Giorgos Giakoumakis was through the middle, and Carl Starfelt and Christopher Jullien also played. Tony Ralston played at right-back, and Alexandro Bernabei played left-back with Benji Siegrist in the goal.”
“Mal held his own, and I have to tell you, as Ange’s teams play, they were at full throttle. They were bang at it.”
Celtic stars putting in the work on the training ground as Postecoglou looks to use entire squad.
On several occasions already this season, Ange Postecoglou has stated how important squad depth will be for his side this season.
So, the work being put in on the training ground by those involved in last midweek’s bounce game will be so crucially important for improving their match sharpness.
The way Coyle describes the performance of this Celtic side, it very much sounds like it was a tough afternoon for the Spiders, facing a Postecoglou team who were right at it from the off.
It may just seem like a pretty pointless friendly at this point in the season. However, the 56-year-old is preparing his players for what is to come when the two-fixtures a week schedule kicks in later this month.
The Celtic manager is likely to have a few more tricks up his sleeve, including more potential bounce games, with another two seven-day breaks between our next league outings against Hearts and Dundee United.
In other news, Ange Postecoglou lauds Carl Starfelt’s unseen Celtic efforts.
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