Celtic: Postecoglou must axe Giakoumakis on Thursday | OneFootball

With Ange Postecoglou knowing that nothing but a win will do in Celtic’s Europa League tie against Ferencvarosi TC on Thursday evening if the Bhoys are to have any chance of making it to the knockout stages of the competition, the 56-year-old Hoops manager must ensure that he gets his team selection absolutely spot on for the fixture.

And, with Celtic heading into the European clash on the back of an extremely disappointing 0-0 draw with Scottish Premiership strugglers Livingston last weekend, Postecoglou could well be contemplating a number of changes to the side that lined up against the Lions on Saturday.

Indeed, with so much at stake in the fixture against Ferencvarosi, there is no room for the 56-year-old to be sentimental, with it being an absolute must for the manager to be ruthless with his team selection in order to give his side the best possible chance of picking up three points on Thursday.

As a result, Postecoglou must axe summer signing Georgios Giakoumakis from his starting XI, as the 26-year-old cost his side dearly on Saturday, and could well do so again against Celtic’s Hungarian opponents.

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Against Livingston, the £2.25m-rated man endured a torrid afternoon during his 90 minutes on the pitch, managing just 19 touches of the ball – eight fewer than Joe Hart between the Celtic sticks – completing a mere five passes, committing two fouls and losing possession of the ball on four separate occasions.

However, it was undoubtedly the centre-forward’s finishing that cost his side most on Saturday, with Giakoumakis failing to get any real connection on a chance three yards out with the goal gaping, as well as missing a last-minute penalty that would have sealed all three points for the Hoops.

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These returns saw the man who journalist Jeroen Kapteijns labelled a “phenomenon” receive a SofaScore match rating of just 5.8, the worst of any player to feature in the match.

As such, if Giakoumakis were to turn in a similar performance on Thursday evening, he could well cost Celtic their chance of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Europa League – something that is surely an unimaginable outcome for Postecoglou.