Ange Postecoglou

I could listen to him all day. It’s so obvious just listening to him why players buy into his philosophy, it’s infectious. I want to slide tackle somecunt after listening to a press conference, imagine what he’s saying 5 minutes before the game in the dressing room.

He has vibes of Martin about him, approachable boss but demands boundaries, doesn’t get too familiar with players but can inspire with a couple of sentences. Can handle the media and seems to enjoy having a lot of control. He’s clearly driving a lot of our recruitment. A manager if you like, a proper old fashioned manager but a seriously progressive coach.

 

Especially when you consider the Huns have conceded more than Hearts.

 

There's no superlatives left..

He's the boss, huge personality and its just the beginning..

 

Just thinking back on Wednesday night again, honestly can’t remember the last time we put on a performance like that against anybody, especially first half. Would have to go back to Rodgers first season possibly the 5-1 game and even then that was against a completely different rangers side to what they are now. Still absolutely buzzing, love this *.

 

He's everything I want from my manager. Honesty, class, passion and most of all creating performances like the other night on the pitch. To think I was embarrassed in the summer when we announced his appointment at the time

 

ive been following ange for the last 20 years so i knew that he would bring success to Celtic FC. i was ridiculed on here for saying he would strip the club right back and build it back up to his standards but i seriously didnt not think it would happen in his first season in charge as his teams usually get proper cracking in his second season. all i can say is holy crap Celtic are going to be a seriously good team next year!!! just remember that he has done this without bringing in his own backroom staff and that IMO just shows you his character and belief in his methods that he can get the whole club singing from the same sheet. we poor auzzies dont have much to be happy about footbaw wise with our NT being so site lately but we are super happy that you guys like the big man. Ange wont be happy untill his team can put in a full 95 minutes like the first 45 mins against that lot on wed night which should start to happen a quarter way into next season. Ange will already be planning on how he is going to win the CL!!!! that is the benchmark that he would have put down for himself thats what he will measure himself against...... LETS ENJOY THE NEXT 2 YEARS CAUSE ITS GONNA GET WILD

 

Top shelf stalking there.

 

I've given kudos to lots of players...

 

IN a football management career that has had its fair share of highs, there are few experiences that Ange Postecoglou has gone through that come close to holding a candle to what happened Wednesday evening.

The Celtic manager has waited his entire life to lead a club of this stature, and just as long to savour the acclaim of 60,000-odd supporters for whom that club means so much.

That is maybe why he lingered so long at the back of the lap of honour after the unequivocal statement his team had just delivered against Rangers, saluting those fans, and savouring the moment for himself.

It wasn’t long after that though that Postecoglou had packed that moment away in his memory bank, and his thoughts turned to creating the next special night for himself and the Celtic support to share.

It appears there is plenty more room for some treasured recollections to be stored in that vault, and having had a taste of what success means at Celtic, he is ravenous for more.

“It was obviously a good night,” Postecoglou reflected.

“The whole experience, from the atmosphere created by our supporters to understanding the consequences of the result against the opposition we were playing. The most important thing was our performance. It was a nice one.

“I got home but didn’t sleep for quite a while. You want to digest it all and understand it all from a football perspective. Just to take it all in, because you need to get up the next day and get on with the next one.

“It’s the nature of football and the nature of my personality. I like moving on quickly because if that was special, I want to start work on the next special one.

“There will be plenty of time in my old age to reflect on these things. That’s not me dismissing it. You have to enjoy it and I said to the players they should enjoy their performance and what they created the other night.

“But the key is; do they want more of that? I certainly do. I fully want it for this football club.

“Me moving on is not me forcing myself to draw a line under the excitement. It’s more; 'what can we do next that creates another special moment for the club?'”

It is little wonder that Postecoglou wants to savour more nights like he had in midweek in a Celtic Park packed to the brim with home supporters, but he knows there will be a challenge for his players to lift themselves to the same heights when they are not in such an environment.

As will be the case at Fir Park tomorrow, even in the presence of a sizeable away support.

“I don’t want to be dismissive but it’s sometimes easier to go out there like that [in front of 60,000 fans],” he said. “You feel that energy and think, ‘jeez…’.

“I think I could have run around out there for 30 seconds before my knee blew up! I’d feel like I could take on anybody.

“It’s just important to understand the expectations don’t drop after the game, that the next game is all of a sudden forgiven if there’s not the same kind of performance, just because you achieved that on Wednesday night.

“It’s the relentlessness of the expectation the players need to get their heads around.

“It was great quite a few experienced their first derby, first big game like that, and they came through it really well. I know that will give them belief and confidence moving forward.

“But that’s not the be all and end all because that expectation is there every game you play.”

Postecoglou doesn’t foresee his players stopping for a rest now though just because they have arrived at the mountain summit, when they all know the hard part will be staying there.

“I haven’t got that sense with this group of players,” he said.

“The ambition hasn’t been to get to first place. It’s to have success this year and be the best football team we can be.

“Wednesday night was another step – it’s not the final destination. I didn’t expect players to have a major shift in their attitude for what they did.

"You saw Callum McGregor with the boys after the game when they were walking around the pitch. He was clear in his message to them; 'we enjoy it, but we go again tomorrow'.

“Looking around the room [on Friday] morning I didn’t notice any shift in attitude. If anything they are hungry to go for more.”

Much talk this week has been about how Celtic have seized the momentum in the title race, but Postecoglou isn’t about to rely on the fair wind they now have at their backs.

“When you are thinking along those lines it is almost as though you are thinking that it’ll run itself and it doesn’t work that way,” he said.

“My experience of football over 25 years is that you need to be ready for every challenge. You need to understand that what has gone in the past does not give you any kind of advantage going forward. If anything the expectation keeps rising and the challenges keep rising.

“If we sit here and say well we are on a great run, things are going well and we just expect to roll out there on Sunday against Motherwell away from home, where we know it is going to be a tough game, then we are going to fall into that trap.

“We have that reminder already. Since the break we have had a couple of tight games – against Dundee United you are at home against a team whose form wasn’t super going into the game, and you are thinking ‘this will be a comfortable afternoon because we are going home’ and then all of a sudden you are down to 10 men and we have to find a way to win in the 90th minute.

“What I try and impress on my players every week is that we have to try and play our best football in that game, the game that is before us. We have to rise to that challenge.

“Because that ultimately is what is going to decide whether we are successful or not, not what has happened in the past.”

 

Totally agree with this

 

I mean it is great and all, but whoever wrote that article that @Notorious just c&p'd hasn't done their homework properly... I mean, Australia won the Asian Cup in 2015, the Final was in Sydney in front of over 76,000+ and the stakes were pretty massive...

So as much as we are all Celtic fans and that is what matters most, but this is not new territory for Ange. Thankfully Celtic are benefitting from his experiences, but it's not like Wednesday is the first big game he has been in charge of the winning side, and let's jsut say the author of that article didn't bother doing his homework, or is just ignrant.

But as always AP speaking good sense.

 

Oh, I'm not diminishing any of them... Just piling the credit for Hart a little higher than most!

 

My mum passed a week ago and reading that by the big man had me. I know it’s only fresh and he’s not necessarily done anything yet. But for me he’s my favourite manager like ability wise we’ve had. And that’s a quote by a man who gets it.

 

Ange grew up with it and this is why he gets the fans and should give some context around his statements after Wed's win:

https://neoskosmos.com/en/2018/07/3...mories-i-have-are-going-to-games-with-my-dad/

When Ange and his family left Greece and came to Australia in 1970, he was five years old. Like many Greek migrants, the Postecoglou family were hoping to improve their way of life, but Ange doesn’t believe his father had that experience.

“Mum and Dad didn’t speak the language, didn’t know a soul in this country and there were no job prospects and nowhere to live,” he said.

“The traditional way of talking about it is that people came here for a better life – but my father, I’m convinced he hasn’t had a better life. He would have had a better life if he stayed at home surrounded by family and friends because whatever hardships he would have gone through – that support would have got him through. I think he came here to give myself and my sister a better life and an opportunity for a better life.”

Ange admitted that the difficulty in settling into a new country and culture made it difficult to connect with his father, until football entered into the equation.

“In the Greek community there were two places of worship,” he said.

“Church on Sunday morning, and Middle Park watching South Melbourne Hellas on Sunday afternoon. My old man was not an overly religious kind of bloke, so his worship came that afternoon. When I would drive to the ground with him – and this is me six or seven years old – he literally walked through those gates and he would change. All of a sudden, his shoulders would just relax, he’d be animated, passionate, talking to people and feeling really comfortable. Abusing the referees, abusing the coach, and I just wanted to be part of that. I just thought this was unbelievable, I want to get close to this.”

 

There have been comments in various threads about getting Ange to sign a long term contract, so he won't be tempted away.
My sense is that he will want to stay at Celtic for while, at least until some significant achievement in Europe. And for Ange that 'significant achievement' will likely be winning the CL!

He will have personal ambitions around this no doubt, but probably he will have this as a goal, primarily for the benefit of the club. Celtic is a global club, a one-of-a-kind club that should be regularly contesting the highest honours in the game. I think is something he really gets.

He will be saying that the 67 Lisbon Lions should not be an aberration but rather the norm. Celtic should be regularly up there and he will be challenging the mindset that says "We only play in the SPFL where there are only two strong teams and we have much less money than the big EPL clubs bla bla." He will see that as a cop out. That's one of the reasons why he got the team to really have a crack in Europe - 2-0 against Betis away, almost beating Leverkusen away, beating Betis at home with a very young team. He has already begun to create the mindset that says "We can compete at this level!" There is more to come in Europe this year as well and that will help to build this expectation.

So for those concerned about him being lured away by a big cheque soon I don't think that will happen. He will want to get Celtic back to making a real statement in Europe first, and more than once. After that perhaps he will move onto some other big five league role but not before he builds a real legacy at Celtic and creates many more memories like Wednesday night. Plenty to look forward to in the coming months and years

 

Sorry for you and your families loss.

 

'specially since he's said exactly that-"I've coached at the World Cup against the best teams in the World, won the Asian Cup "

 

100%. He was copping flack for it too even with the huge progress he made under-manned against the two superior opponents For the fans the league may be the number priority but for him its competing in-and winning in- European competition, and why wouldn't he want to at a club with Celtics history and stature?

 

Agree he'll want to make a mark in Europe but winning the league this year with the financial clout of Champions League money will give him the best opportunity to do so.