THE jury was out on Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic. 

But now after four wins on the bounce, in all competitions, I reckon the Parkhead outfit can mount a serious title challenge. 

Postecoglou is finding consistency in his starting XIs and as a result, performances are beginning to improve. 

The central defensive pairing of Carl Starfelt and Cameron Carter-Vickers was newly formed at the beginning of this season, and they are slowly but surely finding an understanding in each other’s games. 

The pair have helped to ensure that Celtic have registered three clean sheets in their past three games, and for all the talk of defensive frailties, this stat shows that the Hoops are definitely moving in the right direction. 

On the flip side, the Celtic attack has been hailed for a number of impressive performances over the course of Postecoglou era so far, and that continued as they faced St Johnstone on Saturday. 

Kyogo and Jota were again huge threats in the final third, but arguably the best performance in a hooped jersey came from Greek striker Giorgos Giakoumakis. 

The 26-year-old was the top scorer in the Netherlands last season, and he showed why with his first goal for his new club on Saturday. 

It must be remembered that Giakoumakis was the top scorer in the Eredivisie with VVV-Venlo, who finished bottom of the table. Provide him with service and he will score. 

His opening goal at Celtic Park ultimately came from a defensive error from Saints full-back Callum Booth, but Anthony Ralston took advantage to centre for the striker, who fired home into the back of the net from close range. 

It was by no means an easy finish as the ball came into him at waist height, but Giakoumakis’ quality was clearly on show as he ensured Zander Clark had no chance of stopping his volleyed effort. 

Giakoumakis’ all round hold up play was also impressive, and he was a real handful all afternoon. His touch looked sharp and his ability to win aerial duals at the top end of the park is something that Celtic have missed. 

The most promising part of Giakoumakis’ game is that he looked to fit in perfectly with Kyogo and Jota and the trio were never shy of linking up in the final third.  

Kyogo’s preferred position appears to be down the middle, but if he can fit in behind Giakoumakis, or out wide, then Celtic could really have something special going forward. 

Postecoglou summed up his attacking options perfectly at full-time, saying: "You know what strikers are like, there's no striker in the world that feels good unless he is scoring goals. Particularly when you come to a new club and a new environment. 

"For me, whether Giakoumakis scored or not wasn’t going to be as important. I think he did what we needed to today. But I know for him getting that goal is going to be pleasing and hopefully he can build from there. 

"You can never be overloaded with options but it’s great to see we have those options in attack now. 

"What’s also pleasing is the way we are playing. We are keeping a consistent level of performance and we want to maintain that consistency. 

"Our performances have been good in all the games since the break so from that point of view it’s pleasing but we have just got to keep going.” 

Celtic’s weekend victory put them within a point of the top of the table before Rangers’ win over St Mirren on Sunday and if they want to mount a serious title challenge, they have to continue to pile the pressure on their city rivals.  

Dropping points early in the season will hurt Postecoglou and ultimately his team can’t afford to drop anymore as Rangers appear to be grinding out victories without playing at the heights they were hitting last season. 

Hearts, Hibernian and Dundee United also cannot be discounted after their recent form and Celtic meet all three teams before the turn of the year. 

The season is entering a key phase and if Postecoglou’s outfit can keep pace with the league leaders up until January, they will give themselves a real chance of winning the title at the end of the season. 

A league cup semi-final against St Johnstone also awaits in November and if they were to land the first piece of silverware of the season it could breed real confidence into their league campaign. 

Postecoglou has had his doubters but in a short space of time he has managed to improve Celtic drastically from their nightmare campaign last season. 

Given another transfer window I believe Postecoglou could start to bed in even more talent to his squad and supporters will be hoping he can continue to unearth talents like Kyogo and Jota. 

Injury problems have also affected Celtic this season, so if they can get a bit of luck on that front and continue to field a consistent team, there will definitely be signs of improvement.  

Mikey Johnston was a welcome return on Saturday against St Johnstone and Christopher Jullien and James Forrest are also close to first team returns. 

With more competition for places, performances will only get better, and this is what Postecoglou will be aiming for. 

There is a long way to go, but Celtic have already come a long way from day one of the Aussie’s era.