Ange Postecoglou certainly isn’t one for getting involved in post-match drama, and that was also the case today as he refused to criticise his players for drawing at Easter Road.
Indeed, Ange hasn’t been interested in getting involved in having a pop. Instead, he hailed his squad for the performance and stated that on any other day we would’ve won this afternoon’s 0-0 stalemate in convincing fashion [Scottish Sun].
However, perhaps when it comes to some self-reflection, he’ll realise he’s made some bad mistakes this week. Prioritising Hibs away looked the correct decision on paper, but when you fail to get the result, you have to explain why. Well, one of the reasons for today’s performance was clearly in Ange’s starting XI decisions.
Matt O’Riley, who last started a game on the bench against Raith Rovers a fortnight ago, was left watching on for just under an hour as a sub today. Instead, he had to watch the out-of-sorts Tom Rogic produce perhaps his most wasteful display of the season.
It was only after O’Riley was introduced that Celtic started to show some more purpose. Some more verve in their attacking play. Matt was much more efficient with his passing and his deliveries into the penalty area. It gave the Hibs defence an extra dimension to worry about, and even though it didn’t lead to all 3 points, it did make us much more threatening in the closing stages than we were for the first hour.
And what makes it all the more frustrating is that there was no real need to keep O’Riley on the bench today. Not when he only played 45 minutes in midweek.
No need for Matt O’Riley to be benched for Hibernian vs Celtic
This today was one of our toughest games before the split. It’s not as if we have a big European game to prepare for in midweek either. Sure, we face off against St Mirren at Parkhead in another Premiership encounter, but even so, it would’ve made much more sense to give Rogic an opportunity to shine in that one as opposed to today.
O’Riley has been our most consistent signing of the January transfer window. He’s bagged 3 assists and 1 goal in his 9 Celtic appearances and has been a constant source of creativity for us [WhoScored].
Had he played 90 minutes in a tiring effort in Norway on Thursday night then you could’ve understood the decision to bench him. But O’Riley should’ve been more than fresh enough to come in from the start. And it would’ve put Hibs on the back foot a lot earlier in the match than they ended up being.
It’s a major frustration from today. Ange has gotten so much right since coming in the door. And the truth is that you have to forgive him for the odd mistake here and there. It happens to the best of managers and it’s clear that we have some solid consistency levels this season.
But let’s not pretend the team line-up was on the money today. Everyone was questioning O’Riley being on the bench from the get-go. It just didn’t read well, and given how Rogic had performed well in recent weeks, it seemed a big risk.
One that has backfired sadly. Hopefully a big lesson learned when it comes to the rest of our more difficult domestic games between now and the summer.
In other news, Ange Postecoglou delivers his take on why Celtic barely threatened Hibs this afternoon
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