Ange Postecoglou

He won't take long to get the best of the players he has at his disposal, but obviously they aren't the players that going to win trophies.

It's going to be who he can bring in that's the biggest issue. I'm sure he'll have plenty of connections in Europe, more than i think alot of people give him credit for.
Whether he can attract players i don't know but i think, again, he's better know in football circles than what alot of people think. But time will tell... not much time though, he doesn't have that.

 

I’d take Dumbledore...

At least we could ram it up the Huns about genuinely having a manager with a ‘magic hat’.

 

I believe Ange will do for Celtic what Mike Chapman did for Blondie.

 

Greetings again from Melbourne. I need to tell you that Ange P is a master tactician and will change his tactics accordingly. Given the Australian squad he had available for the World Cup qualifiers prior to getting Australia to Russia, Ange P was able to forge a unit of players and squad into a machine that was playing a high one-touch game and literally exhausting the opposition in the last 20 minutes of the game. The fitness levels of the Australians would dominate the opposition in the late second half of the match. That also applied in the away legs in 36 - 40 degree heat at times. After the drawn away game to Thailand he changed from 4-3-3 to an even more attacking and pressing 3-5-2 variant. The local press saw this as a negative but Ange knew what he was doing and outfoxed his opponents by changing his game plan from the earlier games and kept them guessing as to what he was going to do next. Australia got to Russia thanks to his coaching and being a canny operator. I also suggest you consider that it is an 18 team premier league in Japan, with a huge population and football being played in large stadiums and with teams sponsored by major industrial companies. Scotland is a smaller country with a 12 team premier league. Japan also plays regularly in World Cup finals.

I also encourage you to watch Australia v Holland and Australia v Chile in the World Cup played in Brazil prior to the recent one in Russia. Ange P was coach of Australia in Brazil. He also was appointed late to the position and had minimal time to prepare his squad and organise the logistics of setting up a base camp in Brazil before the games began.

He made me and my fellow Australians proud to be Aussies watching those games. Make no mistake, Ange Postecoglou is 100% Australian ! He may be ethnically Greek by birth but he came to Melbourne as a six year old and is as Aussie as Vegimite mate !

 

I've heard plenty of positivity about Postecoglou from people who know a bit about him, but a lot of them have added the caveat of 'if he's given time'. Sadly that's one thing he won't get at Celtic, he'll need to hit the ground running. So the positive remarks I've heard about him have given me cautious optimism, but there's still concerns there (there would be concerns no matter which manager we appointed of course). Do you think he can make an immediate impact while dealing with the increased pressure at Celtic?

The other thing I've heard about him, from listening to a podcast, is that he sticks rigidly to his way of playing (high tempo, high press, high line). That seems to contradict what you say about him being a master tactician and suggests a level of inflexibility. We tend to dominate the ball in Scotland but in European games, not deviating from that approach under Rodgers saw us being given some harsh thumpings from the likes of Barca and PSG. Do you think he's capable of taking a more pragmatic approach against superior opposition?

Also, do you think he has a good eye for a player? The size of our rebuild is massive and he's going to do well to assemble a squad of players capable of winning the title back.

Finally, I also heard on the same podcast is that he makes fitness a high priority from his squad, which suggests the end of certain players' Celtic careers currently at the club. That only exacerbates the size of the rebuild required, which adds to the list of concerns.

Personally, I don't like the snobbery some fans have shown about him because he hasn't managed in Europe, but I do understand the concern because he clearly wasn't our first choice and it's natural to have reservations when you don't know what you're getting. I know you talk up the J-League but the standard is awful, even when compared with Scotland which isn't always the best either, but I don't think the role he has in the J-League is a valid point when trying to talk him up, as the pressure at Celtic will be a whole other level of expectation. If he's really as highly rated as some of the recent praise he's had, why has it taken him until his mid 50's to be offered such a high profile job?

 

Personally I think due to the rebuild being so big, this will actually suit Ange, it will most likely accelerate his team’s development because he won’t have to wait to shift the deadwood and then bring in his own players.

Ange does have an eye for a player. He’s very good at finding the right players for his style of football. He’s not a chequebook manager, he doesn’t require a name player, he’s more your moneyball manager, where it’s about having the right player, with the right attributes and attitude.

Now before the negative brigade jump on the money aspect, we can’t deny that Celtic has a lower budget than the big European teams. So it’s to our advantage that Ange can spot what he needs and be able to build a squad that operates as an effective team with the budget he has.

I have no doubt that Ange will be a success here and I’m looking forward to this season.

 

Thanks for your response Craig, I assume you're Oz based. Any idea why it's taken him until now to be offered a job like this?

 

Hi Albian. I understand your concerns. Any coach taking the Celtic job would be faced with the same problems no matter who they were, would you not agree ? How many though, would succeed the way Celtic fans would want ? The coach is not on the field so ultimately it is the players who will get the results based on selection and following the instructions of the coach. Postecoglou has a history of rebuilding teams into success stories and he has the results on the board. I believe he will go for a blend of youth and experience and recruit accordingly. He will look at the Celtic reserve side and existing squad and also decide and select from there. He believes in giving youth a chance to shine. At Yokohama Marinos FC he recruited three Brasilian forwards who scored spectacular goals on a regular basis between them. Ange has contacts all over the world to recruit players. He has a former team mate in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil from his South Melbourne Hellas FC days, involved in football there. When SM Hellas played in the World Club Finals there against Vasco Da Gama, Man. Utd and Nexzaca FC of Mexico this gentleman fell in love with a local lady and stayed and married her, learnt the language, and now lives there with his new family and I believe is invaluable in a player scouting capacity. At Brisbane City he took over, revamped the squad, recruited midfielder Thomas Broich and attacker Besart Berisha from Germany and Brisbane won two national titles back to back under Postecoglou.

Postecoglou is no hack - he is the real deal. In Ange We Trust.

 

Personally I think the early period is always a bit torrid. Every team he has taken he has dropped fan favourites, had the team go backwards in performance and made the fans ready to sack the board only for them to suddenly become world beaters. I'd be surprised if there wasn't a similar cycle in celtic, but I'd also expect by his 2nd season to be winning trophies and getting into the round of 16 in europe.

As for the contradiction between being rigid and tactically versatile it comes sadly from a lack of sophistication in Australian football fanbase (understable, its our 5th biggest sport). There is a zillion different tactical variations in a possession based games but some fans saw "tactically flexible" to mean a binary of switching between possession based to non-possession based. Some of our better football commentators broke down all the subtle plans he had (even little things like defensive feints in front of one player to encourage a team to distribute through their weaker player - he has a lot of attention to detail).

If he gets time I'd actually expect an initial period where he is fending off a coup and then probably takes the team to a new level and even causes other teams in the league to want to imitate the style. So it will probably be good for Scottish football as a whole as he is a bit of an evangelist for a focus on technique and pretty good at pumping teams full of belief and even youth full of belief that Scottland can produce players that can play for Barcelona (or maybe even Barcelona will try and produce players good enough for celtic, for some one so grumpy and introverted he can be quite churchillian)

 

There is not a lot of history of aussie managers in europe. In fact I think he will be the first? It was tough for early aussie players in europe but there is always a first and to be the first you usually have to be twice as good as your competitors since you are subjecting the board to be open to criticism

 

Thanks for the response. Yes any coach would appointed would have similar concerns, but as it's looking likely we'll appoint Postecoglou, that's why I'm asking about him. The need for an immediate impact cannot be overstated in my opinion, so he'll need to work fast if/when he arrives.

Signing a lot of non-European players just isn't going to happen at Celtic due to work permit laws here, as the players who would meet the permit requirements are usually out of reach for us financially. However I'm glad that those who know more about him have faith in his ability to spot a player and get them playing to his style.

 

He's definitely not the first. Kevin Muscat had a management job in Belgium last year. Harry Kewell managed in the English lower leagues too. Don't know of any others.

 

Oh wow I missed Muscat. Surprised he got such a decent gig, pretty average coach (maybe around average for a league standard, certainly not belgium standard)

Kewell I know about but of course is lower league

 

Yes Oz based. Think it’s more that he spent so much time coaching Australia, in both the youth ranks and the senior rank. It’s the top job down here and along with him wanting to make his mark and change Australian football it’s time consuming.

The Australian youth coaching was a set back and to be honest, we just don’t invest enough in development down here, which meant he had to start from scratch again when he didn’t get the results they wanted. TBF they were asking him to make lamb from mutton. His earlier success then meant nothing and had to rebuild his career again.

 

If you want to get through angeball I suggest a drinking game
1 pint for every goal conceded from some screwed up pass in traffic in front of your own goal in the first season
1 pint for every eurosnob like comment during Ange's initial rough period
1 pint for every fan caught drooling during season 2 at some really sexy football that embarrasses a fancied rangers or European opponent

 

Dear Albian, you could ask me, regarding age, the same question about Bielsa at Leeds United. If he did not have a good name in managing and coaching, Leeds would not have hired him. He has a proven track record of creating good football teams. Celtic could have approached any number of coaches so why approach a 'name' coach like Eddie Howe ? What is Howe's claim to fame ? Is Bournmouth in the Premier League ? Are you suggesting that Celtic FC is at an equal level to an English Championship side ? Is Celtic up there at present with PSG and Barcelona ? That comment re Rodgers seems to denigrate him as a coach after the great success he had at Celtic.

As a Celtic fan myself I look forward to the glory days of Celtic once more. Jock Stein was not a young coach either but he was a great success with the club. With age comes experience and having passed the rites of passage as a football coach. Coaching is much more than tactics only.

Most great clubs have had their moments of greatness over a five year period with a great squad of players.

Real Madrid, lnter Milan, Celtic ,Benfica, Manchester United, Ajax Amsterdam, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Nottingham Forest, Liverpool, Milan FC, Barcelona etc.

Let's look forward to happier days to come and put away the negativity and be more optimistic . Success will come with hard work and astute decisions - not a magic wand. It has always been so, especially when teams go through their transition and renewal phase.

 

If he doesn't win the league this season he won't have a second season. This isn't Australia.

 

He convinced some far superior players to come to Australia and drop down a few divisions. Broich, Berisha. Adnan was an absolute gem from the division below. Every signing for Brisbane was a gem during his time. Because of the salary cap in Australia teams need to rebuild very often.