Ange Postecoglou

I like Anges approach now looking at the summer window

 

You have to laugh at all this chat of big spending. See if the add ons in our sales over the 4 windows that Ange has been here are realised then we are actually at a net negative spend.

This season you would be looking at around £6.6m of profit (with add ons realised on sales and paid on signings £15.2m in vs £8.6m spent).

Last season we spent £38.4m on players including Bernabei, CCV, Jota and Maeda. We brought in £29m in profits on player sales (not actual sale values as Edouard, Boli, Shved, Bayo, Hendry etc would have had a little balance sheet value, still split over the remainder of their contract). There was also still circa £7.5m of add ons in the Edouard, Ajer and Christie deals at 30th of June 2022. So would have taken sales to £36.5m, so a £1.9m loss from 21/22.

Therefore, on the balance Celtic during Ange’s tenure has the potential to have brought in around £4.7m more in sales than has been spent. We have flipped the squad and actually have a team of players out on loan who could be worth a few million in sales come the summer to boost that further.

Not to mention we brought in between £4-6m for the Sydney Super Cup, which was down to having Ange as manager. Likewise there has been talk of a Japanese tour in the summer which could generate even more, again larger down to Ange and his Japanese signings.

 

I see there is a minor meltdown about a wee friendly joke Ange made about Martindale.

But apparently it’s Ange who’s rattled ..

 

Ange looks heavy rattled there.

 

Ange Postecoglou has aimed a cheeky dig at David Martindale.

The Celtic manager has joked that he's well aware of the financial gulf between the teams - because the Livingston boss speaks about it on a "weekly basis".

Earlier this week, when speaking to the media, Martindale claimed that his team would be champions of Scotland if the league was decided on a points-per-pound basis.

The 48-year-old pointed to the spending differences with the sides above Livi as he believes champions Celtic have a budget 40 times that of the Tony Macaroni Arena outfit.

The teams meet at Parkhead tomorrow evening on league business.

And Postecoglou was asked about his admiration for Martindale due to his skills operating on such a small budget.




With a smile on his face, Postecoglou responded: "I think he tells us that on a weekly basis, doesn't he? There is no secret there. It's a nice way of, sort of, downplaying their prospects and maybe pumping himself up a bit.

"Nothing wrong with that. Nah, look, he is doing a great job. He has got a clear idea about the way he wants to play and he backs his players.

"You can tell every game that they are up for the contest. They are well-drilled and well-disciplined and that's why they are in the position they are."

Celtic will be aiming to maintain their nine-point gap over Rangers at the summit of the table on Wednesday.

 

From the good old days of the 1990s, to present day in 2023.

Transfer business is something that Ange Postecoglou has always taken very seriously.

Working with some small budgets during his time as a No.1 throughout his career, it’s easy to see why the Australian is now enjoying the money Celtic have at their disposal when it comes to the market.

Since his arrival in the summer of 2021, the Scottish champions have spent in the ballpark of £40million. Of course, the net spend is actually a lot lower due to the sales of the likes of Ryan Christie, Odsonne Edouard and more recently, Josip Juranovic.

Like most managers involved in the game, Postecoglou feels the summer and winter windows can be a draining time, when in reality they’d much rather actually focus on purely footballing matters.

But with Alistair Johnston, Yuki Kobayashi, Tomoki Iwata and Oh Hyeon-guy all in the building, it’s very much a case of all the hard work that’s gone into such deals has been worth it.

“It’s important to this football club that we run a sustainable model,” said Postecoglou. “It’s not unique to us. In terms of clubs our size that’s what they do.

“It’s not about just spending money, it’s about spending money we have brought in and being strategic about it.


If we were bringing in players who weren’t increasing in value then we wouldn’t be able to reinvest that into players to replace them.

“All those things have a knock-on effect and when you look at our current squad we have a great deal of value in that squad.

“If we do have to replace someone, we will have the funds to replace them with a good player and I think that’s important.

“It’s not about how much we spend, it’s what we spend it on. That’s much more important because I take that responsibility very seriously. We are not spending money we don’t have.

“Throughout supporters or throughout sponsorships or through our player sales, it’s all money that’s hard-earned. It’s not just given to us. We don’t just have a benefactor throwing money at us.

“So, it’s important that that money is spent wisely. I think we’ve done that in the time I’ve been here and we’ll continue to do that.”

Elaborating on his first dealings with football transfers, the Aussie looked back fondly to his time at South Melbourne.

He continued: “I think we spent a club record fee of $5000! We got a player from a rival and I remember we did the deal in the back of the president’s car after we’d picked him up from his house!

“Don’t ask me his name. It was like when I came here to Celtic - we did about seven or eight signings in two weeks. But yeah, things have changed.

“Thinking of my background, I’ve worked at clubs with fairly low budgets which would probably surprise people working here.

“But even back then I took that part of the role seriously.



It’s about how you spend your money, whether that’s a small amount of a large amount.

“Look, when we were starting in the A-League we had a salary cap where we all spent the same which made it more of a challenge.

“If I spent my quid better than you spent your quid then I’d win the league. So, I’ve always taken that part of the job seriously.”

In terms of outgoings at the club, Josip Juranovic and Giorgos Giakoumakis are the headline names.

The former left last week to make way for Union Berlin in the Bundesliga. His move earned the Hoops around £10million for the World Cup right-back.

On Giakoumakis, his deadline day switch to Atlanta is believed to have pocketed the Hoops around £4million. While it’s not a great deal more than they paid for him only 18-months-ago, it’s still a profit.

It will take some time before all four of the club’s new boys settle in fully. And for that reason, it’s difficult to gage whether Celtic are in a stronger position coming out of January than they were heading into the month.

Postecoglou added: “Time will tell. In terms of our objectives going into this window I thought there were a couple of opportunities to strengthen the squad. Particularly with players identified early.

“We also knew that, more than likely, we would have a couple of exits in potentially key players like Josip and Giakoumakis.

“So, I certainly didn’t want to be sitting here on deadline day sweating over exits of guys like Josip or Giakoumakis without having identified replacements.

“The fact we have them already puts us in a really good position.

“With Josip and Giako going out we have brought in four players under the age of 24 for less money than we have brought in, so from that point of view we have achieved our objective.

“If they contribute to the level I think they can then I believe we will come out stronger.”

If anyone figured that Postecoglou would be bothered by any other club’s business, particularly on deadline day, then their fingers couldn’t be further from the pulse.

In fact, the Aussie joked that most of the time he doesn’t even want to have to deal with the ins and outs his own club’s dealings.

He said: “If I didn’t need to think about our own transfers, I’d be happy, mate, let alone think about somebody else’s.

“No, what I think is important is looking at our place and what we’re doing.

“We had some clear strategic objectives in this window and I’m pleased to say from my perspective anyway that everything we wanted to get done got done.

“I think that just shows we’re all aligned. What happens at other clubs doesn’t really affect us













Ange Postecoglou has no issue with rival managers taking aim at Celtic's spending in the transfer market.

That's because the Australian knows the Hoops are the biggest club in Scotland.

Recently, ahead of Celtic's derby game against Rangers, Michael Beale insisted that Postecoglou was a "lucky man" due to the budget afforded to him to spend on new players.

Since his arrival at Parkhead 18-months-ago, they have spent in the ballpark of £40million.

Of course, this figure is balanced out by the amount raised with player sales. The likes of Odsonne Edouard, Ryan Christie and Josip Juranovic have left in that time.

Now, Postecoglou insists he has no issue with outsiders voicing their opinions on Celtic's business.

He defiantly said: "That’s okay. I don’t mind people saying we have the biggest budget because we have the biggest fanbase and we are the biggest club.

"People forget that money is on the back of hard-earned supporters who don’t have a lot of money and choose to spend a significant portion of it on this football club.

My role is not to get their money and stick it in the bank.

"It’s to get their money and reinvest it in the thing they love. That’s my responsibility and why we do what we do.

"If people are saying we are the biggest club in the land then I don’t think that’s something we need to be embarrassed about.

"That’s who we are. I guess my role in that is to maximise that.

"Just having the money and not spending it wisely would have people saying, ‘they have the biggest budget but they waste it.

"If people are saying we have the biggest budget and are spending it will then I’m not sure they’re achieving their goal in saying we have some unfair advantage."

Meanwhile, Celtic defender Stephen Welsh "will not" join Sheffield Wednesday on loan until the end of the season.

The 23-year-old will be staying in Glasgow as the Parkhead side are "reluctant to let him leave due to not being flush for central defenders".

He was linked with the English League One club previously.

 

This guy is just * awesome

 

New contract coming soon

 

Don't get my hopes up ffs

 

The one bit of transfer business we want


Ange 2026

 

Some man

That'll get plenty raging as well

 

Tell @Blochairnbhoy to make it happen!

 

It's absolutely perfect mate, it's just zinger after zinger with the big man

 

Announcement out of nowhere

 

Would be the best signing in a good 10 years!

 

Can’t remember a Jan deadline day I’ve not sat praying for centre back. What’s he done to us, are we even Celtic anymore.


Business done early, replacements for leaving players before they’ve left, a squad with no glaring weaknesses. Does this legend even know the finest traditions of our club!? Ange out

 

They're frothing

 

Ange 2030