Journalist Kieran Devlin was shocked after Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou named the starting XI which went on to lose the second leg of their Europa Conference League tie on Thursday evening.
Celtic went crashing out of Europe last night after they lost against Bodo/Glimt 2-0, meaning the final score on aggregate was 5-1 to the Norwegian side.
The Hoops sit top of the SPFL but struggled in Europe this campaign. They failed to progress into the Champions League after they lost in their qualifying match, and then got knocked out of the Europa League after finishing third in their group.
Devlin gave his views on the slightly odd team selection from Ange when he spoke on a fans’ forum on The Athletic in the lead-up to the game last night.
He said: “Wow, did not see that team coming, effectively a B side. Implication seems he’s entirely prioritising the league. I imagine that decision might be… divisive.”
TIF Thoughts on the team selection from Ange…
Although Postecoglou’s side lost 3-1 in the opening fixture, there was still a chance that if Celtic gave it their all, they could progress into the next round. But instead, the manager opted to field what was deemed to be a weak side, implying that the tie was done and anything that Celtic could get out of it would be a bonus to their season.
Yes, Celtic sit on top of the table with Rangers narrowly behind them, but to be knocked out of three European competitions could be tough for the Celtic faithful to take, especially after the heroics of rivals Rangers when they knocked out German giants Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League.
Celtic have failed to reach the Champions League group stages since 2017/18, despite overwhelmingly dominating Scottish football for the previous decade. So the club has a clear mentality of focusing on the league and treating Europe as less of a priority.