Celtic reaction: Extraordinarily poor conversion rate; wrong time for Johnston and Kobayashi; Martindale misunderstood by Parkhead support

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou didn’t miss his attackers for not getting on the end of balls into the box as they made heavy weather of beating Livingston 2-1. That is becoming a common theme even as the Scottish champions are now on a 10-game winning run in the cinch Premiership.

New Celtic signings Yuki Kobayashi, left, and Alistair Johnston were denied the full Celtic Park experience through being wheeled out before kick-off.(Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Extraordinarily poor conversion rate

Celtic haven’t swept any opponent aside in scoring terms as they have continued to rack up the victories in recent months. The 2-1 success over Livingston followed Saturday’s 1-0 defeat of Aberdeen, and the pre-World Cup shut-down wins against Ross County (2-1), Motherwell (2-1) and Dundee United (4-2). The 11 goals netted in this quintet have been the product of games in which Celtic have fashioned no fewer than 118 goal attempts. Ruthless is hardly a word that could be applied to them in their opponents’ box, then. The chance-squandering hasn’t proved costly to Postecoglou’s men, but his post-match salvo about his players’ “unacceptable” lack of “discipline”, and failing to follow their “principles” in this area, suggested he has concerns it could come back to bite them.

Wrong time for Johnston and Kobayashi

It is traditional for new signings to be introduced to home crowds at half-time of games when their debuts cannot come immediately following their arrival.

Celtic deviated from that in wheeling out Canadian right-back Alistair Johnston and centre-back Yuki Kobayashi - who will both become eligible to play after the window opens next month - about quarter of an hour before their encounter with Livingston kick-off. With Celtic fans notoriously tardy, it was hardly giving the new men the best impression.

The stadium seemed about half-full as the duo spoke to the support. It didn’t help either that the stadium lights were dimmed to leave them in the gloom as they did so. Or that the rain spilled down as they appeared in short-sleeved Celtic tops. Not that the club had any control over the weather…

Martindale misunderstood by the Parkhead support

The Liivingston manager David Martindale has never made any secret over his support for Rangers growing up. Yet, in his current role, he demonstrates nothing but respect for Celtic. As was the case following his team’s loss in Glasgow’s east end. As the Celtic support might want to consider when attempting a man who is simply a genuine footballing enthusiast as some sort of anti-figure where their club is concerned. Martindale, whose side have now taken points off Rangers but not Postecoglou’s side this season, in digesting the 2-1 defeat straight away spoke of playing “the best team in the country” with “top, top players”, and made so by “Ange doing a fantastic job”.

He later refused to take the easy out when it was put to him that his side, assembled for a pittance, was ranged against opponents with multi-million pounds worth of talent able to be brought off the bench. “That’s Celtic’s business model,” he said. “Celtic have every right to do that. I talk about budgets and I don’t mean it in a disrespectful way. The way Celtic has been run over the years is phenomenal. They have a fantastic business model, a huge turnover, but that is down to their business model. Which then allows them to go and attract a certain type of player [they can bring on in games].” Martindale could hardly have been a bigger cheerleader for Celtic this week, and the club’s support might want to bear that in mind when next they make claims over any allegiances apparently at work.