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Ange Postecoglou

Discussion in 'Ex Players' started by Mr. Slippyfist, May 29, 2021.

Discuss Ange Postecoglou in the Ex Players area at TalkCeltic.net.

  1. davidhannah

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    How do you know. Did the cleaner find it in the bin like Lennon's?
     
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  2. Henrik 07 Gold Member Gold Member

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    Ange Postecoglou insists he won’t lose any sleep over Riley McGree ’s Celtic snub as he’s only interested in players who want to be at Parkhead.

    The Hoops boss confirmed he had spoken to the Australian ace but the former Birmingham City loan star had opted for a £3m move to Middlesbrough.

    Postecoglou insisted there was no hard feelings when probed on why the deal had broken down.

    He said: “Nothing too exciting. He’s a player I know well and it came across my path he may be available.

    “I had a discussion with him and then he obviously decided he wanted to take an opportunity elsewhere, which is fine.

    “It wasn’t really anything too drastic for us.

    “It was just a discussion with a player I know well and for me it was an interesting proposition.

    “But it didn’t work out, which is fine. He moves on and we move on.

    “It’s an indication for me this isn’t the right place for him.

    “It works both ways.

    “I only want players who want to be here.

    “I won’t try to convince any player to come and sign for this football club. I won’t.

    “If they can’t see the opportunities that exist here then that’s part of the deal for me.

    “The ones we have signed all wanted to come here.

    “It’s an easy decision. Everyone has their own free will to decide what’s best for them. But I’m not going to sell this club to anyone on its attributes or virtues.

    “If they can’t understand that in the first place then they’re probably not worth talking to from my perspective.

    “With Riley McGree there weren’t a lot of discussions.

    “There was a bit of interest but when it’s clear to me that they don’t want to come to us it’s fine. We don’t progress it from there.

    “He’s one of a number I would have spoken to in the last six months that didn’t end up coming to us for a variety of reasons.

    “If it doesn’t work out then it doesn’t work out and it’s fine.”

    McGree is understood to be heading for a big money deal at the Riverside but Postecoglou is not interested in the financial side.

    He said: “I don’t know mate. To be honest, I don’t care. I don’t dig that deeply in to it.

    “The first transfer I did 25 years ago taught me you don’t take these things personally.

    “Ultimately they are not rejecting me, they are not rejecting the football club. Everyone has their own free will to make decisions.

    “It’s the same for both parties. It’s not just one party who decided not to go ahead.

    “We decided not to go ahead as well.

    “Because for me what’s most important is they want to come here.

    “It’s no big issue for me. There are plenty of footballers who would love to come to this football club.

    “They are the ones I’m looking for.”

    Postecoglou revealed he has no plans to bring in more new recruits after securing top targets Daizen Maeda, Rio Hatate and Yosuke Icheguchi.

    And he admitted the curtain could be pulled down on Leigh Griffiths Celtic career with the striker’s loan spell at Dundee set to be cut short.

    Griff is out of contract in the summer and Postecoglou said: “He’ll probably be looking at opportunities elsewhere.”

    Postecoglou is content with his squad and shot down suggestions he could do more January business.

    He said: “It’s unlikely. There are a lot of names being bandied around which are just outright categorical lies.

    “I haven’t spoken to any other player, I haven’t targeted any other player. Apart from the ones we have signed I had a discussion with Riley because I knew him and I wanted to get the lie of the land there.

    “Aside from that I haven’t spoken to any other players, we haven’t made any other offers or identified any other targets.

    “I don’t expect us to do any more business in this window unless something happens within the current squad that means we need to supplement or something comes along that is extraordinary.

    “But if you hear a name over the next few days that has been linked with me, or it’s said that I’ve spoken to them or identified them, I can assure you that it’s someone’s imagination or someone looking to get a better deal for their player somewhere else.”
     
  3. AdamRS Gold Member Gold Member

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    * sake Davie :giggle1:
     
  4. Hammy89 Gold Member Gold Member

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    Read all of that in Ange's voice. What a treat.
     
  5. thailandceltic From Immigration to Domination

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    I do that all the time:56:

    * love the way he speaks about our club.. He just gets it..
     
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  6. Celtic Board Make my day

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    :71:
    And when you read it again....there is no cough anymore after every second word. Have you noticed that...however there is a snort once in awhile
     
  7. Big Marn

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  8. kinglenny

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    9F09D563-A8D8-41FE-8B24-B591F973FEAB.jpeg

    You love to see it.
     
  9. LTPS

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    Really love this guy
    He’s a manager that has a bit of the old school about him mixed in with forward thinking ideas on the game
    Has an air of authority about him like mon did and even back to stein days which you couldn’t see in the lennons deilas etc
     
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  10. JamesM09

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    I think he’s a bit * off that the McGree deal was reported as done. Seems the agent used us to con Middlesbrough out of another £10k pw or so.
     
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  11. Henrik 07 Gold Member Gold Member

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    When the Hoops take to the pitch on Monday night against Hibernian, the technical area will be a bit busier than usual as the five-substitute rule, adopted during the 2020/21 season to combat the impact of covid, has been re-introduced for the remainder of this season.

    The five replacements in up to three stoppages initiative also means that as many as nine subs can be named on the bench and it’s a move that has been welcomed by Hoops manager, Ange Postecoglou, after it was ratified in a vote by the SPFL clubs yesterday (Thursday)

    The manager said: “We supported it, and when it was initially brought in a year ago, we had it in Japan as well and initially I wasn’t really that for it, because I just thought it kind of changes the game.

    “But with what’s happening in the world in the last sort of 18 months, and with the preferred option of most leagues around the world being to continue as is in terms of the number of games, and we don’t want to be cutting down seasons or abbreviating seasons, it just meant that there’s too much of a load on players.

    ‘It makes sense that five subs gives every club, irrespective of the strength in the squad, the opportunity to not overburden the core group of players.’

    “We went through that in the first half of the season. It’s not just happening in this league, but if you look around the world, injury rates are going up because of the demands put on players.

    “And obviously with covid still being around and still being a factor, I think it makes sense that we go back to the five subs and give every club the opportunity to look after their players.”




    And among those who could possibly benefit from the ruling as the season unfolds is new Bhoy, Johnny Kenny who flew in from his native County Sligo earlier this week as Ange Postecoglou’s fourth signing of the January transfer window.

    The manager said: “Johnny’s one we’ve been tracking for a while through our scouts over in Ireland and he was one that was put to me in the summer window.

    ‘We’ve been tracking his progress and we like what we see in terms of his development so far.’

    “He’s already had a year of senior football and he has some really good attributes. So we thought it was a good opportunity to bring him in in this window, obviously with the league finishing over there, we took advantage of that.


    “In discussions with him, he was keen to come across. Our scouting department’s been tracking him for quite a while, he’s only 18 and we’re trying to bring in players who we feel we need right now, but also not discounting the fact that we need to look a bit further ahead.

    “Once he settles, he’ll start training with us, settle in and hopefully look to make an impact over the next year or so.”
     
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  12. Creativecelt Gold Member Gold Member

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  13. Henrik 07 Gold Member Gold Member

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    Ange Postecoglou has hailed the Celtic board for giving him full power at Parkhead but he admits the buck now stops with him.

    The Hoops gaffer’s vision has been backed by club chiefs as he’s embarked on an aggressive recruitment drive.

    Postecoglou snapped up 12 players in the summer and added another four in the January transfer window, including his top three Japanese targets in Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi.

    The trio are in the frame to face Hibs on Monday night while star man Kyogo Furuhashi is also hoping to be available after injury.

    But Postecoglou has been thrilled at the support from the Celtic suits and he’s determined to repay their faith as the Hoops gear up for the business end of the season.

    He said: “It’s fair to say I’m a bit old school.

    “When I started, I was pretty much doing everything but, back then, most managers were I guess, 25 years ago.

    “I guess it’s just my nature, I like to have control of things that I’m going to be responsible for and I’ve worked that way through my whole career.

    “I didn’t explicitly say that was the way I wanted to work but I kind of guessed the club were well aware of me and what strengths I have.

    “They wouldn’t have brought me in if they didn’t think I would fit into what they wanted to do here.

    “I am a person who likes to take control because I’m going to be responsible for it.

    “There won’t be anyone else sitting front and centre if things don’t go well here.

    “If things do go well, we all share in the success.

    “But if they don’t go well, people won’t have to go far to find out where the buck stops. It stops with me.

    “That’s the case and that’s the way I want it to be, I like to have control over a lot of things and share my vision.

    “It’s not me working on my own and I don’t want people thinking I’m doing everything here, far from it.

    “Obviously it’s my vision and, from day one, I said the most important thing, coming into the football club on my own, was that people believed in me, not so much what I was going to do.

    “If people believe in me as a person, whatever vision I have, they’ll support and it’s been like that so far.”

    Postecoglou was delighted to get his main men on board for the beginning of the window to allow the new recruits to bed in.

    All three could play a part against the Easter Road men and attacker Jota could also feature after resuming training following a hamstring tear.

    Postecoglou is excited to see his Japanese stars in action and insisted they are ready to go.

    He said: “I had been saying for weeks we have been working away and we identified the players we wanted early in
    this window.

    “The club have been very supportive. Michael Nicholson [chief executive] has done a lot of work behind the scenes along with Chris McKay and others at the club.











    The board have been very supportive.

    “I know this was a great opportunity to get some quality players in from a market I know well.

    “It’s also a market that would allow us to bring them in for the start of the window. There are not many leagues around that finish at the time to bring them across quite easily.

    “We worked in the background and there is always an added danger of hold ups because of the Covid situation.

    “But the great thing for me was we were able to get them in for the first day of training and it was great for them as well.”


    WHILE Ange Postecoglou may well be of the ‘old-school’, he is very much open to modern approaches in football, particularly when it comes to the analytical side of the game. The jargon and the terminology involved though? Not so much.

    The Celtic manager’s search for an edge over the opposition has led him to appoint former Benfica analyst Antoine Ortega to his backroom staff, where his task will be to translate what ‘xA’ and ‘xG’ might be able to tell him about his players, his team, or potential targets. And it's probably not before time.

    “The one that gets me is XL because that’s all my clothes,” Postecoglou said.

    “I’ve got no idea, mate, that’s why I’ve brought Antoine in! The analytics thing is well beyond me. Like you, I went through my schooling with a pen and paper.

    “That’s where the future of a lot of scouting and player identification is going. These young guys are much better skilled at - and schooled in - getting the right information, then filtering it and putting it in a form that you and I can understand.

    “It’s a massive growth area in football and we’re always looking for bright people who can come in and help us in those areas.”

    The decision to appoint Ortega is the latest move in Postecoglou’s overarching mission to modernise the club behind the scenes, and ensure they have a solid foundation to meet the challenges of the future.

    “Antoine has already started and there is a lot going on, stuff that doesn’t affect us in the short term so much, but is still important to what we want to build,” he said.

    “All that stuff runs concurrently, while the main focus and priority is the game ahead of us, building a team to have success this year.

    “It doesn’t stop there. There is other stuff needing to be done around the club, which I said we were going to do – but there was no rush. We had to take our time, find the right people, create an environment that gives us success for many years to come, not just in the short term.

    “We’ll continue to make appointments and bring in people we think will help that. Antoine is one, we’ve also brought in Stuart McLaren as 18s coach, someone I know really well.

    “All these decisions hopefully create a really good foundation for us moving forward.”



    NO man is an island, as the saying goes, and no manager can afford to be either. As much as Ange Postecoglou likes to be across most matters at Celtic, and accepts that the buck stops with him if things should go awry, that is very much the philosophy he is adopting in his day-to-day working life.

    That means from chief executive Michael Nicholson at the top right down to the ballboys, Postecoglou is delighted to see the entire club getting behind his vision, and doing whatever they can to help him take Celtic where he wants the club to go.

    Relinquishing some control didn’t initially come easy to the admittedly 'old-school' Postecoglou, mind, but while he accepts full responsibility for any failures that lie ahead, he is fully of the opinion that any success Celtic may enjoy will have had many fathers.

    “I’m the one the responsibility lies within the football department,” he said. “The buck stops with me.

    “My best chance of success is if the club supports my vision and that’s what the club is doing.

    “Michael has been very good about making sure the plans I want to put in place are slowly getting there.

    “It’s not a short term thing. We want to build a really strong foundation for the club on and off the field.

    “For that to happen there is no chance I can do it on my own. I need good people around me and Michael leads that.

    “It’s fair to say I’m a bit old school. When I started, I was pretty much doing everything – but, back then, most managers were I guess, 25 years ago.

    “I guess it’s just my nature, I like to have control of things that I’m going to be responsible for. And I’ve worked that way through my whole career.

    “I didn’t explicitly say that was the way I wanted to work [when I first came to the club]. But I kind of guessed the club were well aware of me and what strengths I have.

    ‘They wouldn’t have brought me in if they didn’t think I would fit into what they wanted to do here.

    “I am a person who likes to take control. Because I’m going to be responsible for it. There won’t be anyone else sitting front and centre if things don’t go well. If things do go well, we all share in the success.

    “But if they don’t go well, people won’t have to go far to find out where the buck stops. It stops with me. That’s the case and that’s the way I want it to be, I like to have control over a lot of things and share my vision.

    “But, again, it’s not me working on my own. I don’t want people thinking I’m doing everything here, far from it.

    “Obviously it’s my vision and, from day one, I said the most important thing, coming into the football club on my own, was that people believed in me.

    “Not so much what I was going to do. If people believe in me as a person, whatever vision I have, they’ll support. And it’s been like that so far.”

    The talk of restructuring behind the scenes at Celtic has been ongoing since long before Postecoglou arrived in Glasgow, with the lack of a director of football being routinely held up as a sign that the club were operating in the dark ages.

    Fans may eventually be seeing the light though as the partnership between Postecoglou and new chief executive Nicholson looks to have got off on a sound footing, with the swift transfer business conducted in this window a marked difference from the way things used to be done.

    For Postecoglou, it is a sign that things are running smoothly behind the scenes at the club, and that he and Nicholson are pulling in the same direction.

    “It’s an important relationship [between myself and Michael] because I don’t have the money to do it,” Postecoglou said. “My bank account is nowhere near big enough to do the business I’ve been doing!

    “Like every manager around the world, we don’t work in isolation. We are part of a bigger organisation.

    “It’s not just Michael, it’s the whole football club. It needs to generate revenue and funds, our supporters are important for me to do the work I do.

    “It’s absolutely essential, you can’t do it without having strong relationships.

    “It’s not just Michael, I have good relationships with all departments because we are all one. It’s not separate entities that just come together on a match day. We are all working together for the same goal.

    “It doesn’t just seem to be working – it is working. There’s a lot of language going around but things don’t get done unless people are working effectively.

    “I’m not just trying to point a rosy picture here. I was working with Michael on transfers in the summer when he was very involved. The key thing for me is the club are supporting my vision for the club, and as a manager that’s what you need.”
     
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  14. Leone Naka Fan

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    This interview shows there has been a massive change with the departure of Lawwell from the CEO position. Apparently, now the board let the manager run the footballing side of things. That would be unthinkable, before. well, it is the right direction.
     
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  15. George Theodorou

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    Interviewed by Demis Nikolaidis, a legend in Greek football, former national team player and forward with AEK Athens FC and one time president of the club as well.

    Many years ago I read an article in an English football magazine where the writer was doing a review of a Euro Cup game in which AEK was involved. He referred to the club as the Athens Electricity Kompany, as if it was some eastern block club at the time.

    AEK stands for Athletic Union of Constantinople. After the Turks turned against the established large ethnic Greek communities in Asia Minor, especially along the coastal cities, including Smirna and Constantinople from the 1920s onwards, many of these people were forced to leave their homes as refugees and flee to Greece for safety with barely a suitcase after having homes and property looted etc.

    AEK was formed as a club in Athens by these migrants who came to Greece and had well established athletic clubs and football clubs back in their home cities and towns before they were driven out.

    Ange Postecoglou and his family, before migrating to Melbourne,Australia, lived in Athens in the suburb of Nea Philadelphia, where the AEK football stadium is situated. Many Greek family names that end in - oglou, have their derivative from Asia Minor during Turkish rule, and probably had the family name adjusted by govt. policy to sound more Turkish.
    In Turkish, 'oglou' means 'son of'.

    Panionios FC in Athens was also formed by Armenian refugees from Asia Minor fleeing Turkish persecution.
     
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  16. George Theodorou

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    A player similar to Riley McGree, and an Australian international with Austrian family roots, is James Jeggo.
    He is a midfielder and is playing with Aris Thessaloniki FC in Greece and is a regular in their line-up.
    He has been with them for roughly three years and previously played for Rapid Vienna I believe.
     
  17. joemc

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    Mcgree totally with that , * , I know .
     
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  18. George Theodorou

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    Really thought we were going to pick up that Brazilian player from Gremio FC in this transfer period. He really looked the goods for his age.
     
  19. GavCFC1

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    Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou is refusing to rule out a request to postpone the Old Firm derby at Parkhead.

    The Hoops gaffer has previously stated that he won’t stop any of his players reporting for international duty in February.

    But if three or more Celtic stars are called up for World Cup qualifiers, Postecoglou will consider taking advantage of the rules to have the Rangers clash called off.

    The second Old Firm game of the season is scheduled for Wednesday 2 February at Parkhead.

    But Celtic could have as many as SIX players away.

    They include Japanese quartet Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda, Yosuke Ideguchi and Reo Hatate, as well as Aussie playmaker Tom Rogic and American centre-back Cameron Carter-Vickers.

    Postecoglou insists he won’t make a final decision until the squads are announced.
    The Celtic manager said: “It’s not a problem yet.

    “I could spend hours thinking about what we’re going to do, strategise and having meetings about it – then in the end find out that only one player gets selected.

    “So I’m not going to worry about it.

    “We’ll plan as we always have, that when we lose our players to international duty we’ll crack on and play the games we need to play.

    As it stands, none of the players have been selected yet. If that happens, we’ll look at it then.”

    Celtic’s star striker Kyogo looks certain to be called up – if fit – for Japan’s crucial World Cup games against China on January 27 and Saudi Arabia on February 1.

    It’s unlikely that all four Japanese players will be away, with Ideguchi for example still uncapped.

    Rogic looks a stick on to be selected for the Socceroos who face Vietnam and Oman on the same dates.

    While Carter-Vickers is in contention for the USA who play El Salvador, Canada and Honduras that week

    But if Celtic don’t want to play the Rangers game, the likelihood is they’d have to ask for THREE Premiership fixtures to be postponed.

    As well as the Old Firm on February 3, they’re also due to play Hearts on January 26 and Dundee United on January 29.

    Rule G7 of the SPFL’s rule book states that clubs can request re-arrangement of “any official match where three or more of its players who would otherwise have participated in such match are unavailable through international selection and, following receipt of such an application, the board may postpone and rearrange the relevant official match in accordance with rule G3”

    Rangers themselves could find themselves in a similar boat ahead of the critical Old Firm fixture.

    If Nigeria reach the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations taking place now in Cameroon, Joe Aribo will still be absent.

    And for the World Cup qualifiers in February, Scott Arfield, Alfredo Morelos, Kemar Roofe and James Sands could all potentially be called up by their respective countries.

    Arfield’s Canada has games on January 28, 30 and February 3.

    Morelos is being touted for a Colombia recall, who face Peru and Argentina.

    While Roofe’s Jamaica have games lined up against Mexico, Panama and Costa Rica.
     
    Last edited: Jan 15, 2022
  20. Henrik 07 Gold Member Gold Member

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    ANGE POSTECOGLOU hinted that Celtic won’t seek to postpone the Old Firm clash on February 2 if his Japanese stars are called up for World Cup qualifiers.

    Kyogo Furuhashi — still battling for fitness — Daizen Maeda, Yosuke Ideguchi And Reo Hatate could all get the shout for the ties against China on January 27 and Saudi Arabia on February 1.


    SPFL rules would allow Celtic to request a postponement of the Rangers game — already moved back from January 2 — in the event of so many key men being on international duty.

    Postecoglou, however, played it cool over the issue.

    He said: “That falls into the department of stuff that I don’t really think about. It’s not a problem yet.

    “I could spend hours thinking about it and what we were going to do and strategise and have meetings on it — then in the end find out that only one gets selected. I’m not going to worry about that.


    We’ll plan as we always have, that when we lose players to international duty we’ll crack on and play the games we need to play.

    “At the moment, there’s no point even thinking about that. As it stands, none of the players have been selected, so until that happens we’ll look at it then.”







    Postecoglou has quickly strengthened his squad this transfer window with four new arrivals — Maeda, Hatate and Ideguchi and Irish striker Johnny Kenny.

    He admits boosting his attacking options was crucial after a first half of the season when injuries took a severe toll on frontline options, with youngster Joey Dawson getting a Boxing Day debut.

    Luckless Greek striker Giorgos Giakoumakis is fit again after two months out following knee surgery.

    Postecoglou is also delighted the SPFL have brought back the five-sub rule through until May.

    The Celts boss said: “Giorgos is back in. He’s done all the rehab.

    “We gave most players the week off but him and a few others worked right through and he’s all good to go.

    “He’s trained really well and he’ll get an opportunity in the games ahead to show what he’s all about.

    “There’s no doubt that with the fixtures ahead we’re going to need as many players as possible.

    “I think it’s the one area in the first half of the year we struggled with in terms of consistency of performance.

    “We kind of have the squad now to be able to rotate and keep people fresh.

    “We suffered injuries before because we weren’t able to. There are two or three back now which will help because of the load we have with fixtures.

    “Through December we didn’t have a squad robust enough to cope with the demands we had with European football. But we want to improve in all areas in the second half of the season.

    “I’m supportive of five subs, we were supportive as a club of it.

    “When it was first brought in 18 months ago — we had a season of it in Japan — I wasn’t initially a fan. I thought it changes games.

    “But with the demands put on players and the players’ general welfare, it’s evident most leagues around the world want to make sure the integrity of the league isn’t tarnished by abbreviating the games or playing less games.

    “We’re trying to jam through seasons that are just not fair on players. Not just in Scotland, but you see leagues around the world where injury tolls have gone up and that’s because of the amount of games and less recovery.

    “This rule allows you to look after your players better, irrespective of squad size or how strong your team is.

    “We’re getting to the point now — and with Covid still being around — that players are really going to start asking questions of authorities and football clubs if they’re not getting looked after.”

    Postecoglou admitted bringing in three more Japanese players is a gamble.

    But he urged people to look beyond nationalities. On the gamble element, he said: “To a certain extent — but we have to be careful about just saying ‘four Japanese players’.

    “These are four individuals, they are totally different people. It is lazy for all of us to say I have just brought in four Japanese.

    “Some of them came to Europe because they didn’t want to be in the environment they were in.

    “So, the fact Kyogo was here WASN’T an attraction to them.

    “Having another three lads from Japan wasn’t that exciting for Kyogo. What’s exciting is bringing in another three quality players.”
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2022
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