The 2 crowd-pleasing changes Ange Postecoglou can immediately make at Celtic

By John McGinley

April 18, 2022

One of the benefits of writing and talking about Celtic for 67 Hail Hail is that you can’t help but have your finger on the pulse of what many fans are thinking at all times.

We get all sorts of feedback on what people think about Celtic here – e-mails, YouTube comments, tweets and sometimes even in person! You absorb a lot of it.

That’s not to say I speak for the Celtic support. I certainly don’t. But it’s certainly useful in the wake of a game like yesterday to get a sense of the mood.

Frankly, I think the reaction has been pretty measured. I’m not seeing too many over the top opinions out there, from our audience at least. There’s an understanding that yesterday wasn’t good enough but also a recognition of the big picture and the progress that’s been made over the last nine months.

I’m seeing two big themes when it comes to what people think went wrong yesterday – the midfield blend not working and not having the presence needed at centre-forward.

Both can be addressed quickly this weekend against Ross County. As always Ange Postecoglou will pick his team based on what he sees in training this week, you have to trust him to do that well at this point considering our overall form. He’s certainly more informed than us!

However, it would be nice to see Matt O’Riley start the game in Dingwall. He did have an initial impact on the game yesterday as a substitute, changing the flow of the match for a short, blissful period that resulted in us getting ahead through Greg Taylor.

It’s true that the Danish U21 international did eventually have real problems with the Rangers midfield after Steven Davis and Scott Arfield came on, but he’s due a go in the starting XI. Let’s not forget he was always very sharp off the bench against St Johnstone last week.

The irony is that the County game could be a good one for Tom Rogic to feature in despite his issues yesterday. The Australian is at his best against defensive teams when we dominate possession and we know Malky Mackay will look to frustrate the Bhoys. Can Rogic and O’Riley both start? Perhaps, if you’re looking for Reo Hatate to drop out.

In attack, I think many people want to see Daizen Maeda shifted back out to the flank where he can hassle full-backs and create a bit of chaos. He’s been so good at that in recent weeks. It really helps us gain a foothold in dangerous areas.

Postecoglou is hopeful Giorgos Giakoumakis will be ready too and it’d be a boost if he is.

Kyogo Furuhashi is still getting back to full match fitness and might be best getting a spell off the bench again next week.

Whether it’s the Greek or the Japanese, we do need one of them as the team’s focal point.

Nobody’s asking for half the team to be ditched by Postecoglou after yesterday if everyone is fit but I do think a switch-up in a couple of key positions would help our bid to pick up all three points in a massive game this weekend.

In other news, Evidence suggests things are about to get much better for Celtic supporters.