Why would any Celtic manager try to stifle the opposition in matches against Hearts, Ross County, St Mirren and Kilmarnock? Wouldn't you expect them to win those games whatever system he chose to play given the vast disparity in resources? Against the last 3 in particular, his teams would have been earning more than 10 times as much.
You try to stifle the opposition if you are playing a team of better players, typically at a bigger club. Like Fergie did against Bayern away, for example. In those circumstances it's the right thing to do.