Celtic's poor form is over as the Scottish Cup final beckons

It was the phrase conjured up by Ange Postecoglou when asked about how he thought Rangers' title challenge would fare next season.

It may well be junk time league-wise for the champions but these games still matter. Celtic supporters care, first and foremost, and they will feel that they deserve better from their heroes.

Now the easiest thing here would be to go on some kind of knee-jerk rant about Celtic's standards slipping and the team having checked out once they have taken the Premiership chequered flag.

The Aussie was right in pointing out another major thing that in terms of the league, the main goal and objective has been achieved. Celtic are the Scottish Premiership champions.

Anybody making snap judgements on the last three-game sample really doesn't understand the essence of Postecoglou's management style at all. Everything he does is calculated. He picks teams for a reason. There is a method to all of this. It is not temporary madness, nor has he taken leave of senses.

Inwardly nobody will be more critical of his side for taking one point out of the last nine available than the Aussie himself. Postecoglou hates losing.

That's why the recent 3-0 loss to Rangers at Ibrox, the 2-2 draw with St Mirren at home and a 4-2 reverse against Hibs at Easter Road last night isn't exactly according to his own words bursting through the tape.

Social media was awash with Celtic fans for want of a better expression going as their hero's latest capitulation in the capital.

Daizen Maeda should have been taken off by Postecoglou before he got sent off for persistent fouling. Alexandro Bernabei and Anthony Ralston are not good enough for Celtic.

Those were just some of the kinder takes that permeated the Twittersphere in the aftermath of the defeat to Lee Johnson's side.

READ MORE: Champions Celtic lose out to Hibs in six goal thriller

Bernabei, in particular, has become the faithful's new whipping boy. He has not enjoyed a great start to his Celtic career granted and his defensive and positional sense are questionable at best and his distribution can leave a lot to be desired.

All of these things were at the forefront of supporters' minds and many were overly critical of his display at Easter Road. Nobody really wanted to point out the fact that he was responsible for two exquisite passes that led to both Celtic goals.

One was a defence splitter that freed Maeda which resulted in a spot-kick and the other a threading of the camel through the eye of the needle job from which Oh Hyeon-gyu profited and steered Celtic back in front at 2-1 just before the hour mark.

They were the kind of assists that would have seen Greg Taylor praised to the hilt and lauded as a wonderful player. Ironically enough, at the outset of his Celtic career, many disparaging remarks were made about Taylor's suitability to cut the mustard at a club like Celtic.

Bernabei has joined a new club, he is far from home and learning a different football culture entirely. Sure there are many deficiencies in his game, but the stinging criticism once levelled at Taylor is now the reserve of the deputy left-back.

The same stick is also being used to beat central defender Yuki Kobayashi who at this moment in time doesn't seem to have recovered from his nightmare at Ibrox a fortnight ago, as well as compatriot Iwata as the last season's J1 League Player of the Year is being asked what he actually brings to the party.

The writing off of players after two or three performances is the staple of experts, journalists, and supporters alike. Always has been and always will be.

I wrote after the Rangers game at Ibrox that the 'junk time' games and recent experimentation of the first team were all for the manager's benefit as well as for those in the Celtic hierarchy.

Call it a warning shot over the bow. Trust the process here as the manager that he knows exactly what he is doing when it comes to team selection and giving his fringe players game time.

The Celtic fringe players have already answered Postecoglou's Champions League question. This is not his first managerial rodeo, by the way.

All of this is being done with an eye on the future to make Celtic bigger, better and stronger on the European scene as well as to continue their domestic stranglehold on the Scottish game.

There may well be disgruntlement in the stands at the last three matches and the results but Postecoglou's eyes will be drinking it all in.

The Aussie is forever scanning and reading the room. He always sign-posts what he is doing. It's all educational and enlightening, especially to someone like myself who is involved in the football writing business.

Recent poor results and the nature of the performances are all on him. It's his way of doing things. It's not even unorthodox in the slightest it's just good football management plain and simple.

As Postecoglou noted: "We love to live in the moment and everyone is sort of making assessments on what is happening right now.

"That’s fine. Most of that is on me, to be honest. I am the one making five or six line-up changes every week.

"That’s hurting the side and there’s no doubt about that, but I’m doing it for a reason and that has affected our level of performance.

"Although, like I said, until the sending-off, I thought we were in a good position. Aside from that, as I said, that’s my responsibility. I’ll take that. That’s the decisions I’ve made.

"In the last three weeks, they haven’t been to be benefit of the team. But in terms of any far-reaching assessments or conclusions, as I said earlier in the week, it’s for other people to make."

"I'm doing it for a reason". Half a dozen words that say so much about Postecoglou's managerial thought processes. He didn't even contemplate taking Maeda off the field of play when to all intents and purposes he looked like an accident and red card waiting to happen.

Cue him again after yours truly had asked him that question. "He’s a guy who just gives everything," the Hoops boss continued.

"I would never criticise him. The effort he puts in is just outstanding. He doesn’t go down as easy as others. That’s a credit to him.

"I never really thought about taking him off. He gives everything every week for the team and does things that others don't. That’s part of the game. He’ll learn from that. He’s a strong lad who stays on his feet when he gets punished."

That's as emphatic as it gets.

Aberdeen, having secured third spot, are the visitors to Celtic Park on trophy presentation day this weekend. Celtic enjoyed the occasion last season when they thumped Motherwell 6-0. Can we expect to see the same dismantling of the Reds?

Will Postecoglou's starting eleven on Saturday give any indication or hint as to his thinking with regard to his cup final team?

Yet it's highly conceivable that Celtic could go into the Scottish Cup final against Inverness Caledonian Thistle on a winless four-game streak.

As momentum goes, Celtic are heading in the opposite direction ahead of a world record-breaking tilt at an eighth domestic treble.

From the moment there were green and white ribbons adorning the Premiership trophy after Celtic defeated Hearts 2-0 at Tynecastle on May 7, nothing else really mattered than a date with destiny at Hampden Park on June 3.

The manager knew it, the players knew it and deep down the Celtic supporters knew it.

No Celtic team likes going through any sequence of matches without a win but the last three league games have been tantamount to dead rubbers.

READ MORE: Why Celtic's end-of-season dip in form is not unusual

That's why there is a huge sense of perspective needed in all of this.

In fact, it could very well spell bad news for Billy Dodds and the Highlanders at the national stadium next Saturday as domestically, Celtic have rarely lost when it mattered under Postecoglou.

Dodds and company would much rather have preferred for Celtic to have a duffer in the final itself and not in all or nearly all of the Premiership matches leading up to it.

If Celtic cannot put the 'Squeeze' on their Championship opponents as they go for a world record eighth domestic treble in nine days time, then something would be truly amiss and Postecoglou and his players really would be 'Up The Junction'.

'Junk time' has long past for the Celtic supporters and it has not been bottled and 'Labelled with Love' either.

Incidentally, Celtic have a rich tapestry and history of turning up in the Scottish Cup final. It's time to get back down to business.

Postecoglou's side have one more big game to turn up for this season to make sure everything turns out 'Cool for Cats'.