Celtic fans must have been disappointed in the manner in which the club crashed out of the UEFA Europa Conference League, at the hands of Bodo/Glimt. Ange Postecoglou’s side lost both legs to the Norwegian champions. The first game between the two was close, but ultimately, the visitors were more clinical at Parkhead and got a 3-1 win, leaving the Hoops with a mountain to climb in the reverse fixture.

Judging from the Celtic team that Postecoglou decided to field away in Norway though, it did feel like he had played it safe and was prioritising the Premiership over Europe.

There is nothing wrong with that approach, especially considering the fact that a UEFA Champions League spot is up for grabs for the Premiership winners. Postecoglou did claim though that his selection was more about refreshing the team, rather than leaving some of its best players out.

Chris Sutton did not appear to be too convinced by the Celtic manager though. In his column in the Daily Record, he wrote:

There was a big fall out over the team selection and I get that. Postecoglou said it was a freshened team rather than a weakened team and he wasn’t making Hibs tomorrow a priority.

No one buys that. You can’t tell me he would have put out that side if they were leading 1-0 from the first leg.

No chance.

Sutton makes big claim about Postecoglou’s Celtic team selection

It is hard to argue with Sutton here to be honest. Jota, Josip Juranovic, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Liel Abada, Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate and Greg Taylor were all on the bench in the second leg against Bodo/Glimt.

Ultimately, it remains to be seen how things turn out moving forward, and that will determine whether this was the right decision or not from Postecoglou.

If Celtic lift the Premiership title at the end of the season, very few fans will care about what happened in the away game in Bodo.

At this point of time, they sit at the top of the table with a three point lead over the Rangers. But with 11 league games yet to be played, including a couple of Glasgow Derbies, anything can happen.

This article was originally posted here