Ange Postecoglou admits Celtic were defensively ‘all over the place’ as they were thumped 6-2 at home by West Ham.
It was confidence sapping defeat just days before their crunch Champions League qualifying second leg against FC Midtjylland as David Moyes’ men ran riot at Parkhead.
Celtic took the lead through Callum McGregor but went in 301 down at the break thanks to a Michail Antonio double and Mark Nobel’s penalty.
Ryan Christie’s early second half header looked like making a game of it before the Hammers scored another three without reply though Said Banrahma, Jarred Bowen and former Hoop Armstrong Oko-Flex.
Postecoglou saw some things from his team that he can’t accept, but insists they can be worked on before midweek.
“We did some of the right things but we also did things that weren’t acceptable,” he told Premier Sports. “Listen, they’re a quality opposition but irrespective, there are things we were very disappointed with.
“The whole premise is to defend and attack as a unit and I thought the attacking bit was alright but defensively we were poor all over the place.
“We can still address things because a lot of it is that will and desire to compete. We’re at that funny stage where I’m trying to teach the players how to play the game a certain way. Sometimes when that happens we forget the other part of football is also important, which is the competitive side, how you defend and how you show up in that sense. You need both.
“Today I thought we made football the priority and we forgot to compete.”
Vasilis Barkas kept his place despite a howler against the Danes last Tuesday and didn’t cover himself in glory at West Ham’s second.
And his manager insisted he won’t shield anyone from criticism when it’s deserved.
He said: “That’s when your belief gets tested. I can’t shield them from it. When you represent this club or play football in general, you can’t shield people. That’s part of the process; to stand up to things like this when things aren’t going well and react in a positive way.
“You can’t go hiding. I’m not going to go hiding and I don’t expect the players to. They have to stand up and take responsibility for whatever situation arises, both good and bad. Even when things are going good, you can get carried away.”
New signings Carl Starfelt and Kyogo Furuhashi remain unavailable to Postecoglou, who wanted any want-away stars that they’ll be shipped out if they aren’t happy.
“I’m not about keeping people happy,” he said. “If they’re not happy here then they can move on. Representing this football club should give you joy and happiness. I’m not an entertainer; I’m here to create a culture that maintains the values and traditions of this club and also bring success. I’m not interested in people being happy.
“We’ve got two in and we can’t even use them at the moment. It’s just the way it is. Right now, I’m not bringing anyone in before Wednesday so we’ll keep working away in the background to try and bring more in but I really have to focus on getting a performance on Wednesday. It’ll be a tough assignment for us.”
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