Ange Postecoglou

Hes gone and done it again

 

Seeing him amd Mon talking

 

Class

 

Everything Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou had to say Viaplay after his side's 1-0 victory against Rangers in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden...

How proud are you of the players?

I am super proud because it is not easy. It is not about just rolling up and letting things take care of themselves. It was a big challenge for us today and we knew that Rangers would be doing everything to try and stop us. I thought the boys were brilliant. We defended when we needed to and that is crucial to the game if you are going to be successful. Credit to this group of players they are just unbelievable.

You look like you enjoyed it at the end?

You have to enjoy it as it is hard-earned. As special as I think I am there's a legend (Martin O'Neill) standing next to me who is saying 'I have did it all before'. That is the nature of this football club. We have not done the job yet.

How important is your team's resilience?

I think that is the evolution of the team. If I was to go back 12 months to the semi-final last season and think about what Rangers had on us at the time. They got to a European final and beat us in the semi-final last year as they were a really good side. I thought in the semi-final last season they just edged it. Our resilience shows the growth of this team. It is not just about the individuals but they have really tackled the aspect of we need to get a hold of games one way or the other.

How impressed were you with the defending?

I thought the two centre-backs were outstanding. That is Cameron Carter-Vickers' last game of the season. He has been carrying an injury for a long time and we will put him out to pasture a little bit now and let him get what he needs done. The boys are putting in a shift no matter what position they play. I thought Daizen Maeda in the first half was outstanding not just with the ball but without it. You know what it is like, it is all not allowing the opposition to get into a rhythm and that is where it starts for that. Everyone has bought into that. Once they get into that everyone forgets what position they play. You have got to work hard and embrace that part of it. It is a big part of who we are. As compelling as we are going forward the defensive work is a launch pad for being an attacking team.

Were you under pressure more than usual today?

Yes. We pride ourselves on when we need to defend and we knew set-pieces were going to be a challenge for us today. They have a great delivery with James Tavernier and Borna Barisic. They have some big guys in there and I thought I handled it well. I thought we embraced all aspects of the game. If you want to be a really top team, and we still have work to do, you need to embrace every part of the game.

How is Alistair Johnston after going off?

He got a sore one for him to come off. He was waving the crutches about so he seemed alright afterwards but you know what it is like, they feels no pain at full-time. We will have a look at it but that is the beauty of our squad, Anthony Ralston comes in and he has not played for that long and he did a fantastic job for us. It has been a squad effort since day.

You have a big game next week now, don't you?

We still have to do the business. What we have done is given ourselves the opportunity to do something special and now we need to go out there and do it.

 

He is such a boss.

 

What a bleeding hero honestly I love him

 

Thank * for that shambolic Covid ball season. Where would we be now if we had won it I wonder. Zombies scream about it like it annoys us still, couldn’t care less we are in such a better position because of it. Title are about the present.

 

As horrible as it was that season and I still hate thinking of it, we were becoming far too comfortable, just expecting to win.

Obviously still gutted we never got the 10 but with how successful we had been over that period of time we weren't improving as a club overall.

Ange has completely changed that.

 

Loved his dog at Rangers, they were a good team last season. Not this season, you can tell he has no respect for the current manager.

 

Yeah he's always quite vocal in his praise of Weo and the huns last season not so much for the Warty one

 

Love watching Ange celebrate at the end with the crowd after winning another big game and you see how much it means to him.

 

Yep. That is absolutely clear as day..

 

Aye he used to be quite complimentary of Gio didn't he? Met up for Lunch I'm sure too.

Don't think he's said anything positive about the mole since he joined, and rightfully so.

Either way, he'll have driven both out before long