FORMER Celtic striker John Hartson has praised the Parkhead club’s fans for their response to the Livingston defeat on Sunday and urged them to remain firmly behind manager Ange Postecoglou and his new-look team as they attempt to revive their fortunes.

The Glasgow giants’ dire run both on the road in the cinch Premiership and at the Tony Macaroni Arena continued this weekend when they slumped to a 1-0 loss and fell a point further behind leaders Rangers in the table.

They have now not won away from home in the league since they beat St Johnstone in Perth way back on February 14 – and have not triumphed on the artificial pitch at the West Lothian venue in five visits.

However, Hartson was pleased that the travelling supporters didn’t turn on Postecoglou or his players after the bitterly disappointing result. He believes their continued backing will be vital going forward. 

“Naturally when you don’t win there is a tinge of disappointment, especially on a day when Rangers drop points as well,” he said at his charity foundation’s golf day at Turnberry. “Celtic failed to capitalise.

“But there were no boos yesterday from the crowd, which is good. They are getting behind the manager. I think that is the right thing to do at the minute – back the manager, back the players.

“I still think it is a settling in period for Ange. There is a bit of a transition period going on at Celtic. A total of 12 new players have come in. I don’t think the boos will come. The fans realise it’s going to take time – and the manager will get time.

“You look at the AC Milan game last season and Real Betis the other night. Albian Ajeti was the only player still in the side from last year and he was on the bench against Milan. It’s an entirely new team and it takes time to gel. Not winning on the road will concern Ange slightly, but I think the fans will give him time.”

The Livingston reverse provoked a furious reaction on social media websites and internet messageboards – but Hartson is confident that most Celtic supporters will appreciate the situation Postecoglou inherited when he took over and will remain firmly behind him.  

“People are braver online aren’t they?” he said. “I don’t think Ange will be too concerned about that. There were about 5,000 Celtic fans there yesterday. I think a lot of people realise that this is a bedding-in period. It takes a bit of time. The issue is it’s big game after big game after big game. There is no respite.”

Postecoglou has brought in the likes of Liel Abada, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Kyogo Furuhashi, Giorgos Giakoumakis, Joe Hart, Jota, Josip Juranovic, James McCarthy and Carl Starfelt since succeeding Neil Lennon back in June. But Hartson feels he needs to strengthen further still if Celtic are to challenge Rangers for the Premiership, League Cup and Scottish Cup.

“When Ange gets his best players back we will see better performances again,” he said. “When Celtic get their better players back, Kyogo, (Callum) McGregor and (James) Forrest, that will make them a bit stronger.

“But he needs a stronger squad. We have seen he has put a team together in the last couple of games and it has not quite been strong enough to cope. He will want to add. I think January will be another opportunity to add one or two more.”

Celtic have now lost four of their last five matches. However, ex-Welsh internationalist Hartson suspects it will take several games before the players the Greek-Australian coach has brought to Scotland this summer can perform consistently well both domestically and on the continent. He has been encouraged by many of their displays and thinks it will happen.

“Going forward I have been very impressed with them,” he said. “They have been very good. I know that yesterday they failed to score, but in other games they have been good. In the European game against Real Betis in midweek I thought for 35 minutes it was the best they have played all season. They were absolutely outstanding.

“Ange is doing a good job. Okay, the away results don’t suggest that, but you can see the football philosophy. He wants to attack, he wants to outscore the opposition, but he’ll also know we need to improve defensively.”

Hartson continued: “Unfortunately, when you are at Celtic you don’t get time to settle. Every game is a big game, every game is scrutinised. Carter-Vickers has only played two or three games for the club. He was partnering with (Stephen) Welsh for the first time (against Livingston). Last week it was Carter-Vickers with Starfelt.

“Then Juranovic has not really been able to play in his favourite position, which is right back. He has fitted in at left back. So there is still quite a lot of changes. (Adam) Montgomery has come in and done really well. McCarthy will come onto a game as well.

“At this moment in time, they are just not quite strong enough to go and do it as a group. There have been some good performances and there have been some poor ones. I think you are going to get that when a new manager comes in and tries to change things around so quickly. It is very early.”

Hartson, though, thinks that Postecoglou and his Celtic players will need to start delivering big wins against their city rivals Rangers and in Europe to show their supporters they are heading in the right direction and ensure there is no unrest in the stands. 

“Ange has come across excellent, but he will know at some stage that he will have to start winning the big games,” he said. “We haven’t beaten Rangers in seven games, he is going to have to beat Rangers. He is going to have to win in Europe against the Leverkusens, against these sides. But I think it is coming. We have seen signs of really good play.”

 

John Hartson was speaking at The John Hartson Foundation Golf Day at Turnberry. The Hartson Foundation supports various cancer charities around the UK.