Ange Postecoglou

'Better to drink the weak tea of a friend than the sweet wine of an enemy.'

 

'That's not a knife ,this is a knife!'

 

...sounds like an appalling euphemism.

 

Love the big man already straight to the * point I am now desperate for him to be a success was sceptical at first but mon to * big man bring it back to paradise!!!!

 

Ange to the board:

"Did youse spill ma * pint?"

 

I seriously have no doubt that Ange will build a fearsome team for the league and will be surprised if he doesn't win it, but Europe is just a tad too soon. CL highly unlikely but Europa is a chance.

 

Glad he's had a say on us dragging out transfers he better get used to it.

 

Starting to sound like the dog and caravan in here ffs

 

I believe a couple of us, me included, was saying read between the lines, he’s getting * off with what’s going on. He dropped a few 1 liners in some pressers which clearly indicated this to me.

 

I like Ange and it does look like he's been given control of what happens on the pitch and has a strong view on that. I like what he is doing there.

What isn't apparent is whether he is much more than a glorified coach. If it wasn't for the signing of the Japanese player absolutely everything else would point to that.

I hope that's not the case but being frustrated in interviews doesn't really indicate one way or another what actual say or clout he has.

 

Ange in The Scotsman:


Postecoglou admits he has tread carefully with Odsonne Edouard, Ismaila Soro, Ryan Christie and Nir Bitton in the past week in order that he can utlise them against the Danish League runners-up. “It has been a challenging time, and to be fair to the young players, we’ve had to play them in these games as we’ve been down on numbers,” he said. “It wasn’t about judging them, it was more about exposing them to what it’s like playing for this club. My expectations for them were not anything great.

"But we’ll have a few players available who we’ve been kind of holding back because they haven’t been 100% right. I hope the team we put out is ready for a tough contest. We’ll probably be relying on the core members of the squad rather than the youngsters. The likes of Christie and Bitton trained and they will certainly help us. The same goes for Odsonne. He had a bit of niggly injury that kept him out of training for a few days. But he got half an hour [against Preston] at the weekend and he’s rebounded really well in training.”

The pessimism over the tie from the Celtic faithful is unprecedented. However, Postecoglou maintains he won’t use the myriad difficulties he has faced - which he touched on in nipping at his paymasters with comments to the broadcast media that the club must move “a little bit more precisely” and “a bit quicker” in their recruitment drive - as the rationale, should Celtic fall short. “My expectations are the same all the time. I want to win, I want to be successful and play great football,” he said. “That doesn’t change irrespective of the time I’ve been in a role or the challenge that’s before me. That’s my responsibility. Our supporters deserve to see their team endeavouring to be successful every time they go out there. We can’t go out looking for excuses. My expectations don’t change.

"Midtjylland are a good football club. They are a club that’s matured in terms of their identity and they have a clear model. They develop young players and play a certain way. They had a great run in the Champions League last year. It’s a great challenge for us but any tie is going to be a challenge where the rewards are so big.”

 

A man with his hand in his pocket will feel cocky all day

 

While I'm happy for Ange to be calling it the way he sees it, I do worry about his surly demeanour having an impact on the players' confidence.

He does have a reputation for engendering a desire to run through walls for him - you can already sense that among the fans - but will it translate to the players. The youth certainly, but the senior pros will be his challenge.

 

The ones who want to be here yes. He needs to rely on the board to get the ones who dont want to be here out, as they will he the ones to undermine the charge.

and he needs to board to bring in those who will be hungry and who will be assets to what he wants to achieve

 

For all the issues that need sorting and work to be done to restore the club from it's current position I'm just glad that a lot of you guys are seeing and feeling whey we as Aussies have taken such a keen interest in Ange's career and follow his progress. He's a straight shooting, hard working manager that won't make excuses and demands a certain level from his players and those around him. He won't be hasty to throw it away and on some level, although frustrated and wanting progress asap, will be absolutely relishing the size of the task at hand and the change he can affect if given the time and backing, that part remains to be seen.

No * licking for him at all here but just respect for the guy and how he operates.

 

While I absolutely agree this is his pinnacle to date and can't see him walking without MUCH more effort and time. Regarding the World Cup, he didn't see just qualification as accomplishing the goal at all. That's exactly the mentality he was looking to change about Australian football. Said publicly to stop thinking of qualifying as "success" and start aiming to compete once we're there and not just make up the numbers.

 

I really like his honesty after the * we had to listen to last year.