Ange Postecoglou

Edit: This chequebook manager narrative pish spouted by huns needs canned. The man has won in titles in far more financially balanced leagues than here. A winner nearly everywhere he's gone.

 

looks like its missing his South Melbourne titles, 2 Australian championships, and 1 Oceania Champions League. could probs find a few more major honours in there as well. for South Melbourne and also various Oceania titles when he was in charge of the junior national teams.

 

* from ewan and the guardian.

Postecoglou’s status among the supporters is *-like. He could launch a bid for the Rangers captain James Tavernier without significant dissent (Tavernier would not get into Celtic’s first XI anyway).

 

For all his Celtic achievements so far, the trophies, the fantastic recruitment, etc. I still find winning the league least season as the most impressive thing given the start he had.

Losing 3 out of our first 6 matches left us with very little leeway for the rest of the season. We drew the odd game here or there, but for the most part we had to be perfect. Instilling those standards and consistency into a totally new squad with players being thrown in as we went along was outstanding.

 

Guys on 20 minute Tim's saying he was very jon committal after the game in his speech I didn't see that

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Well his latest quotes arent

 

Think the biggest difference is with ange he’s got the balls to throw players in and let them adapt one of the reason why his recruitment has been a success


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Anybody know when cup final tickets for us will go on sale Inverness selling there's tomorrow

 

What's this?

 

Ange at the Glasgow cup tonight

 

Ah cool, cheers. Big Pedro doing his bodyguard these days, getting some fresh air out the boardroom.

 

Aye I think so mate

 

Winning everything the now

 

Ange Postecoglou in Celtic response to Rangers guard of honour snub

Ange Postecoglou insists it's no big deal that Rangers won't provide a guard of honour to his Celtic team this weekend.





The Hoops have already retained their Premiership crown heading into the sixth and final derby match of the season.

But the Gers players will not line up to clap their opposition onto the pitch at Ibrox tomorrow.

Michael Beale insisted that it would not be the right thing to do. And that doesn't bother Postecoglou, who is adamant that the Gers show respect in other ways.

He said on Sky Sports: "It’s no big deal for me. Those kind of things seem to be a bit symbolic rather than anything real. Respect is shown in different ways and we don’t need a guard of honour to know that.

"There’s respect between the two sides and certainly between the two sets of players. It might be grudging but they know how hard it is to be successful.

"Rangers won it two years ago and we have won it the last two years so that respect is there and we don’t need a guard of honour for that.”




On the game, the Australian added: “It’s still a big game against our rivals, I’m sure our supporters will want us to put on a strong performance and it’s a chance to continue our form for this year and finish the season strongly.

“We’ll put out a team we think will win the game for us but it gives us a chance to look at next year and look at things we want to do and give some guys some game time but against that backdrop we want to win the game and will put a line up we can think can do that.

“Once they’re out there, both sets of players will realise it’s still a game you want to win and they will obviously will have a support there and it will be a great challenge for us.

"There might be more freedom in the play and helpfully that makes it entertaining.




The fan aspect certainly favours the home side. When we had it at our ground it was unusual when Rangers scored and it all went quiet.

"That eeriness and quiet isn’t something you usually experience at big games so hopefully we can quieten it down a bit. I still think it will be a great atmosphere and Ibrox is a ground it’s certainly tough to get a result there

 

Just another desperate excuse to cope with their failures, since the murray era started they've been the definition of a chequebook team, never living within their means, our net spend since Ange came in isn't that big.

 

Everything Ange Postecoglou had to say ahead of Celtic's Scottish Premiership clash against Rangers...

Congratulations on being nominated for the Manager of the Year award, just like last year, how does that feel?

It is recognition for the whole group and I think it is testament to the season we have had and the consistency and overall performance. I am the frontman for all that but it is great recognition for all the staff and everyone involved - the players - and it is reflective of the season we have had.

We had the player nominations on Wednesday and your players dominated that and the Celtic Women dominated their respective awards. I just wanted to ask you does that show that the club as a whole are in a really good place?

I think these things are all reflective of the season that everybody has had. As a club we want to be successful every year and we have that opportunity and in many ways, it is demanded of us. If you perform at those levels then the individual recognition comes along with it. I am pleased for the lads who got nominated and we could have had another half a dozen in there as I think we have had some guys who have had an outstanding season but it has been a real collective effort from us. From that perspective, I am pleased that everyone within the football club is getting recognition for that.

How were the celebrations on Sunday? It looked like there were some special scenes with the fans that turned out at Celtic Park to give you that ovation when you returned from Tynecastle.

It was nice to get back to Celtic Park. Last year when we got back from Dundee United, it was a bit late but this time it was still early in the day and the reception we got was outstanding. The supporters created a great atmosphere and the players, myself and the staff certainly appreciated the fact that they had come down to share in the success we've had. It would have been nice to have a home game to back it up with but we are going to have to put all that stuff on ice until we are in front of 60,000 next week. It was good to share it with decent numbers after the game.

How is the team looking this week any injury news?

Nothing major from last week. James Forrest is available as he has been back training which is good. Aaron Mooy is a little bit touch-and-go for Saturday. He is just a bit sore with a couple of things and we will see how he is. Everyone else is fine and good to go.


In terms of recruitment you have been linked with Ryotaro Ito, I don't know how much you can talk about specific players but in general where are you in terms of recruitment and bringing in new players with regards to next season?

They have gone early with the stabs in the dark, haven't they? Look, we are doing our work and people are trying to identify where we are trying to earmark for next season. It's fair to say that if they are taking punts now they are well, well, well off the mark. Without talking about specific guys, they are well off.

Every derby is massive for this club but how special would it be to seal an unbeaten season in this fixture?

All those things have context. For us, our goal every year is to be champions. That's the ambition for us because of everything that is associated with it. Apart from being successful the last couple of years has got you automatically into the Champions League group stages and everything that brings with it. That's where our ambitions lie but within that we have these individual things and contests that you know are important and significant to the club and every derby is that kind of game. It is an opportunity to win against a very good team and the team closest to us on the table. It is a game that always means something to our supporters and it is an opportunity to create another significant moment for us. That's the opportunity that is there now.

This will be your sixth game against Rangers this season. Do you find that even though you have come out on top in the five this season, they always pose new challenges?

There is a different context to all of them. Home is different to away. League is different to a cup final or semi-final. They are all kind of different in terms of the context you go into. This one is different again in terms of the teams and the way they play Rangers have had a managerial change and Michael (Beale) came in and tweaked the way they played and that provided a different challenge from the earlier part of the year. There is always kind of injuries and depending on the make up of the team selections we try and treat every game as an individual contest but there are similarities there between all of them but you need to address them in a singular fashion.

Having won the league last week do you feel that the build-up to this match has been different in terms of the circumstances?

Probably. If we were going there to win it (the title) then there would be more hype around it so from that perspective is doesn't feel as intense in terms of the build-up to the game, but I don't think that will diminish the game itself. I still think the game will have all the elements of a derby game that you'd expect and I don't think that will be any different. It might be different in terms of the circumstances with us being champions and sort of everything that goes along with that as it has been a different week for us.

How do you keep the players motivated?

There is no doubt that when you get to this point of the season, and particularly in a position when you are close to clinching the title, things just naturally tighten up. It happened last year too even in the game when we won it against Dundee United it was not a great performance and we got the job done. There was an element of that sort of last week against Hearts but to be fair to them I thought they played really well in the first half. Now that we have done it there is potentially an opportunity for players to play a little bit more freely now but we still have the cup final coming up. I think all the players want to be at their best for that and they want to play in that. They do not want to take their foot off the pedal in these last few games and we will still have the intent to play these games to the best of our ability. We have still got something to play for this year and that's what the next three weeks and four games will be about.

How big an achievement would it be to go unbeaten against Rangers?

I don't think so, mate. It is a game that there are no major consequences in terms of the league table and points. It is still a big derby game and from my perspective, I don't think it gives you any significant edge in terms of next year. You just want to finish the season strong and there is a chance to look at a couple of things from a team perspective building into next year. We will use these games as an opportunity to make sure we are ready for the cup final and we will look at a few things we want to work with.



Many would argue that retaining a league title is harder than winning it the first time given that the team put in such an effort last season. What would you say has been the key to the further improvement of the squad this season and picking up a potential treble?

I guess it can be more challenging but it really comes down to the attitude and mentality of the players. Last year the players worked really hard to win it and had to overcome a lot of challenges as it was a new team and we had to make ground and catch up with Rangers who were ahead of us and then we had to maintain that until the end of the year. The guys had to put in a lot last year and your only concern as a manager is having put everything into it, are they prepared to get up and do it all again? Even if you are champions you are still starting down at the bottom again you are not starting halfway up the mountain. You kind of guard against complacency creeping in and you ask that question. Are there guys who are not prepared to work as hard as they did last year? There was never any evidence of that from the first time we came in as a group and the players have been really good alongside the staff at driving it and that was our challenge could we be a better team than we were last year and that was our goal. Within that context, we felt that if we did improve as a team we would be hard to stop and we'd give ourselves a chance of being champions again. The lads have done that and they have a real single-mindedness about every game treating it as an opportunity to improve and it hasn't been easy as we have been ahead in the league for quite a while. You look for signs that the boys are looking too far ahead but they kept super-interested and kept their heads down and focused on the next challenge and moving on.

We have seen the various semi-finals of the European competitions this week and every Celtic fan would love to see the club make the latter stages of such a competition again. Is that where you see the next evolution of this club now that you have had two years experience of Champions League and Europa League?

I think I said this year when you talk about the Champions League regular participation is one of the ways to improve and bridge that gap and we had not been in the Champions League for four or five years and for a lot of our players it was their first step into that level of football. The first part of that is we want to be consistently playing Champions League and if you do that over a number of years that gives you the opportunity to improve. That is the opportunity that is before us now but it still comes down to us keeping improving as a team. All these things become a by-product whether that be domestically or in Europe. Going into next year that had got to be our goal. We have to improve and that will help us with our first priority which is always to win the league as that has to be our main priority. If we improve that gives us a better chance in Europe and particularly at Champions League level.

How much personal pride and satisfaction does it give you knowing that the club and the brand has expanded in far-off countries like Australia, Japan and South Korea because of your presence and the players that you have managed to recruit from those countries?

It is great. It is not just down to my presence. I can't take credit for these things. The football club was already well known in all parts of the world. I guess with the Japanese players and Oh Hyeon-gyu coming from Korea it gives us the opportunity to have fans who feel more closely associated with the club. That is how you build that fan base around the world. There is an immediate attachment there as they see somebody from their own country representing the football club. This football club has had strong links with Australia and strong links with Japan and Korea well before I was here. We have had players from those areas and you would be surprised how strong the connections are with the football club not just in those countries but in other countries where we haven't been yet. I think it is great that we can go to these nations now and give back to people who support this football club from afar and give them an opportunity to see the club close up and personal.




Just a word on Greg Taylor as he has has a stellar campaign and the stats are saying that he has averaged deep progressions in the opponent's final third and those figures have shot up from eight to 12 between last season and this season. How impressed have you been with Greg in the attacking areas of the pitch from last season compared to this season?

It's fair to say that Greg has improved immensely in all aspects of his game but that was always going to be his challenge and all the boys' challenge. That is what I expect of them. I think if they don't improve or they stagnate or feel like they don't need to improve then they have to remember that they are just passing by but they have to represent this club to the best of their ability. Greg has been great at receiving information and being able to implement that into his game and understanding the tools that are given to him by the coaching staff to help him become a better player. With all the players they need to be receptive to that first and if they are then it is up to us to give them that information to help them improve and Greg has been great. He is enjoying his role at the football club not just as a player but as a person of influence within the group which is growing all the time and I think that's great also and it is a credit to him as he has tackled that task and the challenge will be to improve again next year because if he doesn't then somebody else will and that's the challenge to all of them