Journalist Kieran Devlin has criticised Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou for his decisions to rotate his squad in Europe following their most recent league match.
Last week, the Bhoys crashed out of the Europa Conference League after losing 5-1 on aggregate to Norwegian outfit Bodo/Glimt.
Now, in an article published in The Athletic, Devlin pointed out that Postecoglou opted to rest a number of players in that tie, with a focus on the Scottish Premiership instead.
Will Celtic win the league this season?
Yes
No
However, Celtic then went on to draw with Hibernian 0-0 in their next league outing, and the journalist suggested that despite resting some players, the demoralising loss in Europe influenced the club’s performance against Hibs and could have ‘damning permutations’ across the remainder of the season.
He explained: “There is the risk that Postecoglou’s team selection against Bodo/Glimt might backfire in the long run. That rather than an opportunity to rest regulars, it was such a demoralising endeavour that domestic momentum is affected.
“Even if it is only short term, if performances continue to follow results and further points are dropped, then it could have meaningful, damning permutations for Celtic’s league ambitions.”
TIF thoughts on Celtic and their form…
Despite their recent draw, Celtic do at least still top the table, sitting three points adrift of their closest rivals Rangers after 28 games played.
No doubt, they would have been delighted to see Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side also drop two points this weekend, as they surrendered a two-goal lead to end up drawing 2-2 with Motherwell.
However, the Gers did fare a lot better in the week as they claimed a historic win over Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League.
With that in mind, it will be interesting to see if either club’s performances in Europe play a big role in impacting their league form across the final part of the season, just as Devlin hypothesises.
In other news: ‘Embarrassing’ – Sky Sports man slams ‘strange’ Celtic decision