Ange POSTECOGLOU praised his Celtic players for winning for the first time on his watch against FK Jablonec but warned that their performance still left considerable room for improvement.
A 4-2 win in the Czech Republic put the Australian's side well on course to meet AZ Alkmaar in the playoff round of the Europa League courtesy of goals from Liel Abada, Kyogo Furuhashi, James Forrest and Ryan Christie.
But the concession of two simple goals and a lack of cutting edge in the final third left Postecoglou unimpressed and questioning why a bright start to the match was not maintained throughout.
Ange Postecoglou (pictured with Joe Hart) enjoyed his first win as Celtic coach on Thursday
Celtic overcame Czech side Jablonec 4-2 in the first leg of their Europa League qualifier
'The result is a positive one,' he said. 'I think it's important, particularly for the players who have been working hard.
'Every competitive game, we have had an opportunity to win and we haven't done so. It is reward for the players. Hopefully it gives them some confidence and belief moving forward.
'The performance was okay. We started really well. The first half hour was excellent. We controlled the game, scored our goals and created some more chances to score.
'I just felt we lost our way a little bit after that and lost control of the game, especially second half. We were going okay but we didn't control the game the way we should have to make sure we won the game more comfortably.'
Having seen Vaclav Pilar make the score 2-1 by running onto a simple ball over the top, Postecoglou was dismayed by Tomas Malinsky following suit to make it 3-2 with five minutes remaining.
Asked if his concern was primarily about the defence, Postecoglou added: 'It's not so much one aspect. We scored four goals, but we had some unbelievable opportunities to score more.
'I felt we just didn't control the game as well as we could have after 35 minutes of the game.
'Defensively we were really open but part of the reason for that is that we gave the ball away unnecessarily. We were just making poor choices.
'There were a whole range of aspects that left the game really open which allowed them to score a couple of goals. We still had chances, but it's not the way I want us to play.'
Postecoglou said Celtic started 'really well' but criticised them for playing too open
Liel Abada (pictured) scored first. Kyogo Furuhashi, Ryan Christie and James Forrest also netted
Asked how that could be rectified, he said: 'Just keep
