Ange Postecoglou has revealed why Celtic rejected Bodo chance

Celtic have a massive task at hand, if they are to make it to the next round of the UEFA Europa Conference League. The tie against Bodo/Glimt was always expected to be difficult but even then, not many would have expected the Norwegian champions to get a 3-1 win at Parkhead. As a result, when the Hoops travel to Norway, they not only need a win, but a big one as well.

That is of course, easier said than done. Bodo/Glimt’s record in their own backyard is brilliant. The fact that they defeated Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma 6-1 there earlier on in the campaign should tell you everything that you need to know.

Amidst all this, Celtic recently made a bit of a controversial decision and did not train on the artificial turf at Bodo before the second leg.

Ange Postecoglou has now given some insight into that decision though and he believes that a training session away in Norway would not have made a difference. As reported by the Daily Record, the manager said:

"“Here in Scotland we obviously have exposure to artificial pitches, we have already had two games this year on an artificial pitch so there is no a great deal to be gained.“Every week has a different challenge. If you are expecting that after one session you are going to find some miracle on an artificial pitch that you haven’t thought about, that is going to win you the game, then you fall into the wrong trap.“I have been involved in football for a long time, especially at national team level but even in Australia, where you have to deal with extreme climatic conditions, extreme pitch conditions.“When I was with the national team we were travelling from cold climates to the Middle East in literally 24 hours, bumpy pitches to slow pitches, and what I found in the end is that the best approach is to make sure that your players are always prepared to deal with whatever challenges there are.“There is no easy solutions. Us flying there today and having a session on their pitch is going to make absolutely zero difference.“Us being here, getting a good training session with the boys, getting them prepared for a difficult game tomorrow, is much more important to me.”"

Postecoglou explains Celtic’s controversial decision of not training at Bodo

There have been many in the media who have raised their eyebrows at Celtic’s decision not to train on the Bodo pitch. Now, it remains to be seen whether it pays off or not.

AS Roma had decided to do the same earlier in the season and it is safe to say that things did not go too well for Mourinho’s side.

The biggest problem that Celtic are expected to face away in Norway are the weather conditions and it will interesting to see if they are able to adjust to that and put in a good performance against Bodo/Glimt.

While the Hoops do have their backs against the wall, the tie is not over yet and if Postecoglou’s side are able to make the right adjustments from the first leg, they might still have a chance to go through.