Ange Postecoglou has shed some light on Kyogo Furuhashi’s post-match celebrations at Motherwell on Wednesday night.
The striker has had a tough time around goal over the last six weeks but was perfectly placed to put the ball home at Fir Park when a Liel Abada shot struck the post.
At the final whistle the Celtic players went over to thank the away support at Fir Park but there was something missing from the usual post-match celebrations.
The @CelticFC fans love @Kyogo_Furuhashi and he loves them back! ?
Great scenes as the Japanese star celebrates with a dance for the visiting fans ? pic.twitter.com/fsqXF5lUh8
— Premier Sports (@PremierSportsTV) October 19, 2022
Some fans viewed the incident as a classic example of Ange’s man-management skills but the Celtic boss had a more basic explanation as he explained at today’s media conference.
9 minutes 30 seconds:
To be fair, the only reason that I did it as that I felt sorry for the fans. They were screaming out for somebody to do it, it was between me and him (Kyogo) and I certainly wasn’t going to do it mate. I literally pushed him over.
I think that it was a good moment, I think that the fans want to show their appreciation of the players. Sometimes guys like Kyogo maybe they are not scoring or they are going through a tough time I still think that the fans appreciate what they have done for this club and they want to show that appreciation.
Sometimes the players, for their own reasons are maybe a bit shy in receiving that support.
Since scoring a hat-trick in his home debut against Dundee last August Kyogo has been a favourite of the Celtic support with his upbeat attitude matching his ability.
Scoring twice in last season’s League Cup Final win over Hibs sealed his status and paved the way for three more J-League signings in January.