ANGE POSTECOGLOU admits he is not a fan of Celtic’s silver-grey third kit which they have worn only once this season.
That appearance coincided with the champions’ only domestic defeat of the crusade and unarguably their worst performance of the campaign.
The Hoops players were adorned in the unusual strip as they collapsed to an a bewildering 2-0 loss to St Mirren in Paisley in September.
CQN‘s match reporter observed: “Celtic didn’t look like Celtic in their grey shirts in Paisley this afternoon.
“Unfortunately, they didn’t play like Celtic, either.”
GREY BHOY…Kyogo Furuhashi in the ‘ghost strip’ in the 2-0 loss in Paisley.
Under the headline ‘OFF COLOUR AND AWFUL: HOOPS’ GHOSTS FLOP‘, he continued in his match summary: “The Hoops’ record of 38 league matches without defeat – ironically the last time they lost was to Livingston exactly a year ago tomorrow – was surrendered in the maze of mistakes against a Saints team who weren’t too fussy about how they went about their business.”
The kit comes into play for a second time against the same opponents and the same venue at noon today and we have to hope there is no return of the x-certificate display that saw the Parkhead men carelessly throw away three points against a team that bullied them into submission.
Referee David Dickinson, no stranger to controversy where Celtic are concerned this season, has made the request and the club have complied.
HEADING FOR DEFEAT…Mark O’Hara gets up at the back post to nod in the opening goal behind Joe Hart with Aaron Mooy getting a close-up view.
Postecoglou said: “I think we are going to play in grey again. I don’t like it either, but it is what it is, mate.
“I think what people said on the day and what I thought on the day was it is harder to distinguish between players then it would be if there was a clearer distinction between the strips. But it is the referee’s decision and we abide by the referee’s decision.”
Asked if the shirts interfere with the players’ peripheral vision, the Greek-Australian gaffer, speaking to The Scotsman, replied: “C’mon mate, c’mon. There will be numbers on their shorts and socks and I am sure they can tell who is wearing a similar one.”
This will be Postecoglou’s third visit to the home of the Paisley club and has yet to see the Hoops score a goal with their first visit in December last season ending in a scoreless deadlock.
END GAME…Celtic’s grey ghosts and Joe Hart troop off after a dismal 2-0 defeat.
He added: “Yeah, they are a difficult team to play against. If you look at their position in the table you can see they are very consistent.
“Particularly at home, they have got some great results, so, yes, they are always a challenging opposition. But for us nothing really changes.
“We just have to play our football and when we do that, when we successfully impose our style upon games we are hard to stop.”
* DON’T miss the unbeatable match report and best action images from St Mirren v Celtic this afternoon – only in your champion CQN.
