ANGE POSTECOGLOU has made it clear he has no intention of sitting back and playing for a draw against Real Betis in their Europa League opener.
Celtic’s away day successes in Europe have been few and far between but there’s no sign of pragmatism from our new gaffer.
Ange is setting Celtic up as an attacking force and plays high paced, fast football. It’s going to throw up some top results but it will also see Celtic get a bloody nose from time to time.
The gaffer is happier sticking to his own philosophy and would rather win or lose on his own terms.
“Well, my philosophy is if you win games you got a good chance of progressing.” The Hoops boss told CelticTV.
“So that’s irrespective of home and away and I think even more so in Group Stages.
“I think if you start thinking about scratching around for point here or there or we’re trying to accumulate a certain amount of points to get through, I think it’s not the kind of football team we want to be.
“We’ll go there and try to win the game of football and that doesn’t change and our approach won’t change. It’s not the we don’t recognise the opposition or the difficulty of the opposition or playing away from home.
“I understand all that but I think, playing for those kind of outcomes is just fraught with danger. You’re kind of starting already with conceding something and I’m not prepared to concede anything to anyone in any way shape or form with the football teams I’m in charge of.”
Celtic will need to be at their best and some fringe players will have to come in and out in a performance. Abada is out for religious reasons while Callum McGregor and Greg Taylor are missing through injury.
It does give others the opportunity to stake their place for a claim. Adam Montgomery could come in for Taylor while James McCarthy could start his first Celtic game.
The game kicks off at 17:45 UK time and is live on BT Sports 3.
Unfortunately I fear there is a bloody nose coming tonight