Ange Postecoglou isolated himself as he put the blame on the Celtic players for the 4-0 defeat from Bayer Leverkusen last night.
While chances were squandered around goal and mistakes heavily punished the buck stops with the manager that selected the team, tactics and substitutions.
At lunch-time on Sunday Postecoglou requires the same group of players to dig him out of a hole at Aberdeen if he is to avoid a very painful international break where his results are taken apart with very unfavourable comparisons are thrown up.
Until kick-off at Aberdeen on Sunday the Celtic manager is going to be the focus of attention, last night he attempted to distance himself from the players for the first time.
The Daily Mail reports Postecoglou saying:
We had some unbelievable opportunities. They are a good side with some quality players and they took their opportunities but we helped them as well by making some mistakes and giving them the advantage.
At this level you are going to get punished for your mistakes and you have to take your opportunities — and we didn’t.
It shouldn’t have been a 4-0 game. We fell away at the end through lack of discipline and that is unacceptable.
If you lose 4-0, the overwhelming feeling is that it has been a disappointing night, disappointing for the fans who I thought created an unbelievable atmosphere.
We have to take that disappointment and use it to as motivation to set things right in the next game. We had our own chances and if we go one 1-0 up instead of 1-0 down it becomes a different game.
Football is full of ifs, buts and maybes. Every failed manager has matches and incidents that they look back on and wonder ‘what if’.
Three months into the job Postecoglou is carrying the problems of multiple mistakes at Celtic, the players may have been at fault last night but as Tony Mowbray and Ronny Deila know the buck stops at the manager’s door with Postecoglou on his own and in the firing line.
Playing 2-0-8 is anges decision. His tactics are insane.
That must be the worst Celtic European performance I have ever watched.
Never in my life could I imagine that they could play as bad as they did last night.
Words fail me in describing this .
I suppose we should be thankful we are sixth in the premiership.
I admit we have problems and a four nil defeat at home is sickening but worst european performance ? Really.
What about the PSG hammering we took under Rodgers,was it 11- 1 aggregate,and Lennon’s 8- 1 aggregate and I’m sure we took a right hammering of another team under Rodgers tenure.
Take it you weren’t at Neuchatel then
Sorry but the ange experiment is not working where do we go from here and that little @rick lennon sitting there giving his opinion he was one of the main reason we are in this position at present,ange will be gone soon if he does not get this team winning again starting Sunday if not he is toast.
“We made mistakes … We fell away …” How is that blaming the players? Sounded to me as if he was taking his share of the blame. As for that being the worst game … Remember PSG? 7-1 as I recall. And that was when Rodger$ was in his pomp. Slippy had 3 seasons at Sevco and is in his 4th. He still only has one trophy. BL are in a different league on so many levels. Give the man time.
Oh dear ! slippery slope perchance !
Yup, the manager made the mistakes for the goals we conceded, he missed the easy chances we passed up, he conceded the penalty, he went hiding during the game at points, he switched off in injury time when we conceded the 4th goal.
Absolute diatribe. Why on earth do these nonsensical articles keep being uploaded.
Put your keyboard away mate, would expect something like that from the Keevins of this world. Sick of seeing these articles about nothing.