Celtic legend in blistering defence as he insists Ange Postecoglou was RIGHT to ring St Mirren changes

A tale of the unexpected unfolded for Celtic at St Mirren on Sunday but Peter Grant expects more storyline jaw droppers as this season unfolds. The former Hoops star admits it may have come like a bolt from the blue as the Buddies inflicted a first league defeat in 364 days for the champions but he’s also convinced Ange Postecoglou’s tinkering with his starting line-up wasn’t to blame.

No less than six alterations by the Australian from the Champions League draw with Shakhtar Donetsk triggered mumblings of complacency coming his way, but Grant believes the upset in Paisley was the football gods at play. He said: “Any time Celtic lose this season, it’s going to be unexpected. You hear the so-called criticism and people having a pop but it shows the standard they have set.

“For any Celtic player who didn’t know, football can make you king of the castle one minute and then kick you on the backside the next. Every team will lose games, sometimes it’s more unexpected as it’s a Celtic side which has been brushing opposition aside week on week. St Mirren have been doing well, they are on a good run but I don’t expect Celtic to lose many games this season because of the quality they have, not just in their first XI but as a squad.

“How does Ange Postecoglou balance that, players can train as much as they want but they need to play games. So what is the manager supposed to do? The only way he can do that is to play these players in games. I guarantee that St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson would have read the team-lines and thought it was a very strong Celtic side.

“Celtic have been so dominant and that’s why this defeat hits people with such surprise. But the reminder is there every day with Celtic that they need to perform