Pundit backs Postecoglou decision amid Celtic ‘big surprise’ claim
Ange Postecoglou was right to rotate his Celtic side for last weekend’s loss to St Mirren.
That’s according to former Rangers and Scotland boss Alex McLeish, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the Hoops’ most recent result.
Celtic lost their first league game for 364 days last weekend against St Mirren (18 September) as Postecoglou rotated his side.
Aaron Mooy and David Turnbull were afforded rare starts while an unfamiliar partnership of Moritz Jenz and Stephen Welsh started at centre-back.
On social media, some Celtic fans criticised the decision and questioned why James Forrest was not in the side.
However, McLeish has backed Postecoglou’s move.
“It’s not a big surprise to see a club like Celtic rotating,” McLeish told Football Insider’s Ben Wild.
“What I do have to say is that St Mirren deserved the win for their tactical plan. I read some of the thoughts of the players after the game and they were saying they worked hard on Celtic’s strengths.
“So maybe they were thinking they were going to be playing against Celtic’s best players so they were able to do it against three or four of their squad players.
“When it is against the players who maybe aren’t the first-choice players it makes life a lot easier for you.
“Those players were probably thinking at the end of the game, ‘I wish they had put their best team out because we would have loved to play against them’.
“I don’t think you can blame Postecgolou for rotating, there are a lot of games to play.”
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