Celtic were nowhere near their best but were able to get a 4-0 win over Raith Rovers in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup to go through to the next round of the competition. Liam Scales, Giorgos Giakoumakis, Daizen Maeda and Nir Bitton were the four names on the scoresheet for the Hoops. But while most managers would be happy to get the job done, that is not the case with Ange Postecoglou.

Celtic have become popular for not only winning this season but winning in style and giving the fans something to get out of their seat for. For the most part, they did not produce such football in the game against Raith Rovers, especially in the first half.

It would be easy to gloss over things and claim that the players had an eye on the upcoming UEFA Europa Conference League game against Bodo/Glimt. But Postecoglou is not that kind of manager, as he did not seem completely satisfied with what he had seen on the pitch.

While speaking to Premier Sports and as reported by 67 Hail Hail, the Celtic manager said:

“Yeah, the first-half was pretty poor. Obviously, when I’m making so many changes it’s going to affect the rhythm and cohesion, but even within that we weren’t great. We didn’t work hard enough, we didn’t move the ball quick enough. The second half was a lot better and it’s good to get through to the next round.

“It’s not like they’re going to be banished into some unknown place after today. It’s just we’ve got certain standards about how hard we want to work and how quickly we want to play. We were taking too many touches and weren’t working hard enough off the ball.

“Whilst we were comfortable, that’s not what I want us to be, I don’t want us to be comfortable.”

Postecoglou did not seem delighted with Celtic’s performance vs Raith Rovers

With the tough games coming thick and fast, this was a good opportunity for the Celtic players to get their foot off the gas for a little bit and cruise to a result. And while they managed to do that for the most part, that is not what Postecoglou appears to be looking for from his team.

That being said, there is not much time to reflect on things as they have a huge European game coming up in midweek against Bodo/Glimt at Parkhead.

And it is safe to say that on that occasion, Celtic will have to be on the top of their games if they are to come out with a win against the back-to-back Norwegian champions.

This article was originally posted here