Kris Commons: ‘Inexcusable’ Livingston defeat ends honeymoon period for Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou

The former Hoops attacking midfielder branded Sunday’s defeat to Livingston as “inexcusable”
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Kris Commons reckons Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou’s ‘honeymoon period’ is now over due to their unsustainable current run of form.

The former Hoops attacking midfielder branded the club’s 1-0 defeat to Livingston on Sunday as “inexcusable” as they suffered a third successive away defeat in the Scottish Premiership.

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Andrew Shinnie’s first-half strike separated the sides at the Tony Macaroni Arena – a ground Celtic have now failed to win at since September 2008.

Commons acknowledges Postecoglou was without several key personnel for the trip to West Lothian but is adamant they should still have beaten a side that came into the game rock-bottom of the table and still searching for their first victory of the season.

Writing in the Daily Mail, he said: “Yesterday’s defeat at Livingston was a damaging affair for the new Celtic manager, wiping out a lot of the goodwill afforded to him by the fans.

“It brought to an end any sense of a honeymoon period. That’s all over and Postecoglou is now firmly under the microscope.

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“Why? Because, for any Celtic manager, failure to beat the team who were bottom of the table at the start of play is totally inexcusable. Plain and simple.

“I know Celtic were missing a couple of key players in Callum McGregor and Kyogo Furuhashi. Postecoglou also opted to rotate his squad and freshen it up after European exertions in midweek.

“But that won’t wash. Not when you’ve just lost to the team who, prior to yesterday’s result, had been the worst team in the league over the first few weeks of the season.

“Even accounting for one or two players being absent or rotated, a massive club like Celtic should still have more than enough in reserve to get the job done at Livingston.

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“Listen we’re not talking about the San Siro or the Bernabeu. Nor are we talking about the bear pits of Ibrox and Tynecastle.

“We’re talking about the Tony Macaroni – a venue which saw Celtic fans pack three sides of the stadium.

“It might as well have been a home game in that regard. Spare me any nonsense about the plastic pitch. Yeah, it’s not ideal.

“But no self-respecting footballer will use that as an excuse for losing a game. That’s just a cop-out.

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“Celtic fundamentally weren’t good enough of the day and the concern for supporters is the fact that it’s far from just a one-off.

“Celtic have now played six matches in the Premiership this season and lost 50 per cent of them. That’s totally unsustainable and Postecoglou will know it.”

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