OUT OF Ange Postecoglou's first 50 matches in charge, Celtic have won 35.
There have been five draws and 10 defeats in there too for an overall win rate of 70 per cent.
Not bad for the first nine months of an extensive rebuild and accounting for a high turnover of players and an injury list that has never quite cleared.
But what games stand out when you look deeper? That is our latest quest as we present... the Ange Postecoglou 50-match Milestone Awards:
Highest xG created
aka the Postecoglou Plaque
Gold medal: Celtic 3-2 Hearts (5.38 xG, Aug 15 2021)
Celtic racked up a remarkable 5.38 xG against the Jambos in the League Cup just two weeks after losing to them in the Premiership opener. The close nature of the scoreline belied a dominant performance in terms of chances created - Hearts mustered just 1.19 xG in response, including Liam Boyce's penalty. Kyogo Furuhashi earned top honours from TCW's Tony Haggerty that day, with an 8/10 rating. Remarkably, all three podium-place games were played in a two-week spell in August shortly after the team's lowest-recorded xG - 0.4 in the 2-1 defeat to FC Midtjylland on July 28.
Podium places: Celtic 6-0 Dundee (5.27 xG, Aug 8 2021); Celtic 6-0 St Mirren (4.86 xG, Aug 21 2021)
Most shots attempted
aka the Ryan Christie Award for Persistence
Gold medal: Celtic 3-2 Hearts (35, Aug 15 2021)
Familiar matches abound here as that authoritative 3-2 win over Hearts takes the top spot with 35 attempts, with the contrasting 6-0/0-0 games against St Mirren filling out the other podium places. One accurate shot out of 10 against AZ Alkmaar makes for the worst game in this regard, while the most clinical display of the campaign in terms of shots on target percentage was the 3-0 win over Rangers, during which Celtic managed eight on target from 12 shots.
Podium places: Celtic 6-0 St Mirren (31, Aug 21 2021); St Mirren 0-0 Celtic (29, Dec 22 2021)
Most crosses attempted
aka the Steve Guppy Order of Merit
Gold medal: Celtic 3-2 Dundee (47, Feb 20 2022)
This match wins on a technicality, having the same number of crosses (47) as the runner-up but in three fewer minutes. Giorgos Giakoumakis earned TCW's man-of-the-match award on this occasion with a lesser-spotted 9/10 rating. The match in which they completed the highest percentage of their cross attempts was the 3-1 win against St Johnstone on Boxing Day (eight of 13 for 61.5 per cent) while, at the opposite end of the spectrum, the Hoops attempted only four crosses in the 2-1 away loss to AZ Alkmaar on August 26.
Podium places: St Mirren 0-0 Celtic (47, Dec 22 2021); Celtic 1-1 Dundee United (46, Sep 26 2021)
Most duels won
aka the Tony Ralston Technical Certificate
Gold medal: Hearts 1-2 Celtic (142, Jan 26 2022)
Tynecastle away was always likely to chart near the top of such a section. This game was Matt O'Riley's debut and contained the Reo Hatate piledriver goal. More remarkable, however, is that the team did not contain Kyogo Furuhashi, Callum McGregor, David Turnbull, Daizen Maeda or Tom Rogic and still out-fought the Jambos. In addition to the game in which Celtic won the most duels overall, it sits third in duel win percentage too. On the flip side, the 6-0 win over Dundee in early August is the team's lowest recorded numbers in both categories with 70 duels won (a 41.2 per cent success rate).
Podium places: FC Midtjylland 2-1 Celtic (136, July 28 2021); Celtic 1-0 Motherwell (132, Dec 12 2022)
Most possession
aka the Brendan Rodgers Ribbon
Gold medal: St Mirren 0-0 Celtic (81.9 per cent, Dec 22 2021)
A second entry for the stalemate in Paisley just before Christmas and one that reinforces how frustrating an evening it was. No outright man-of-the-match award was given, by yours truly, but Anthony Ralston emerged with the most positive write-up from the Celtic players. The match in which Celtic ceded the ball to another team the most was the 3-0 win over Rangers at Parkhead in February, during which they recorded 41.1 per cent possession after opting to take an extended second-half breather.
Podium places: Celtic 0-0 Livingston (79.8 per cent, Oct 30 2021); Celtic 3-2 Dundee (78.8 per cent, Feb 20 2022)
WATCH: Which of Ange Postecoglou's 50 matches has been the best?
Most completed passes
aka the Callum McGregor Trophy
Gold medal: Celtic 0-0 Livingston (806, Oct 30 2021)
Perhaps no great surprise here given the nature of that game. Interestingly, although this stalemate comes in at number one, Celtic have won the other nine of their top-10 passing performances, scoring 28 goals and keeping seven clean sheets in the process. Conversely, the fewest successful passes they have recorded in a match this season was the 310 racked up in the 2-1 defeat to AZ.
Podium places: Alloa Athletic 1-2 Celtic (749, Jan 22 2022); Celtic 3-2 Dundee (722, Feb 20 2022)
Most aerially dominant game
aka the Bobo Balde Laurel Wreath
Gold medal: Bodo/Glimt 2-0 Celtic (85.7 per cent, Feb 24 2022)
We're probably playing it a bit fast and loose with the term 'dominant' here given they only won 12 in total but, certainly, there has been no other match this season in which Celtic succeeded in the air more often. If you're wondering about raw totals, the Hoops' 39 aerial duel wins against Dundee United in January takes the mantle there, although it accounted for just a 60 per cent success rate. Curiously, the first leg against Bodo/Glimt was the match in which Postecoglou's men were least aerially dominant (seven of 23 for a 30.4 per cent win rate) both in percentage and raw numbers.
Podium places: Celtic 3-0 Raith Rovers (71.4 per cent, Sep 23 2021); Celtic 2-0 Hibernian (66.7 per cent, Jan 17 2022)
Highest press
aka the Kyogo Furuhashi Medallion
Gold medal: St Mirren 0-0 Celtic (2.7, Dec 22 2021)
There is plenty of additional context required - for most of these categories, but definitely when it comes to pressing in particular - though on a purely PPDA level remember the lower the number the higher the press. Celtic's worst-recorded PPDA this season was the 14.4 in November's 3-2 loss to Bayer Leverkusen.
Podium places: Celtic 0-0 Livingston (4.04, Oct 30 2021); Celtic 1-0 St Johnstone (4.06, Nov 20 2021)
Most long passes attempted
aka the Mick McCarthy Shield
Gold medal: Celtic 1-0 St Johnstone (52, Nov 20 2021)
This one is in here mostly so we could use the name of the award, to be honest. The St Johnstone tie beats out the FC Midtjylland second leg by virtue of their gargantuan (for Celtic, anyway) 52 long balls being hoofed up the park in 30 minutes less game-time. If you're curious about this sort of stuff, and you must be if you've reached the Mick McCarthy Shield and kept reading, they completed half of them. The match in which they attempted the fewest long passes was the 3-0 win over Raith Rovers in the League Cup back in September (12).
Podium places: FC Midtjylland 2-1 Celtic (52, July 28 2021); Celtic 2-1 Aberdeen (48, Nov 28 2021)
Most fouls suffered
aka the Kris Commons Memorial Bust
Gold medal: AZ Alkmaar 2-1 Celtic (19, Aug 26 2021)
Many would have proffered a European match as the likely candidate to take gold here. Likewise, that a tough game saw Anthony Ralston named TCW man of the match could be called equally predictable. Despite the defeat, Celtic still qualified for the Europa League group stages. The game in which the Hoops were deemed to have suffered the fewest fouls against them was Hearts' 2-1 opening-night win at Tynecastle while the game with the most Celtic transgressions was the now-notorious win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie, where they picked up 27 foul calls.
Podium places: Motherwell 0-4 Celtic (17, Feb 6 2022); Celtic 1-0 St Johnstone (16, Nov 20 2021)
- All data referenced in this article is courtesy of WyScout
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