Ange Postecoglou

The Oz bias is unreal
I've got a horrible feeling the players aren't gonna respect the big guy and buy into him. Hope I'm wrong, obviously, and Ange is the best soccer coach on the planet, as his fans on here would have you believe. But I can smell a disaster coming.

 

Gut feeling is he’ll do well but will take time

 

Hauld up, where has the racist comments been?
Legit I don't think I have seen any racist comments in regards to Ange being appointed our manager. If there have been, they must be extremely few and limited - enough not to surely merit a fanbase being called out on?

No one has said he is * because he is an Aussie, plenty have questioned his ability because he has only coached in Australia and Japan, but not because he himself is an Aussie (or Greek actually).

Bit of a confusing comment, since he has won a quadruple treble and been at the heart of some cup winning performances, scoring winning goals etc. Not sure any other club would have afforded that level of success at an equivalent level league.

Again, without being argumentative, where is the racial remarks?
Close minded is one thing. It is not bad being naive to what he has achieved on the other side of the world in a league that, honestly, is not an entertaining enough, nor promoted enough, league compared to European leagues which are on our doorsteps.
Sure the vast majority of our support know little to nothing about the two leagues he has coached in, but they may as well be the Peruvian Primera Division for all we know or care about it to this point.
That honestly is not meant as a slight, it just is a fact. In the same way that I am pretty sure the vast majority of Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Mexican, whoever don't really give a * about the Scottish league either.

Discrediting his success and/or ability because he has only managed in certain leagues really is not racist.




All that aside, thankfully some of the absolute cringe comments have died down, a little.
I get the Aussie guys wanting to come onboard and back their man, give him support and help educate the rest of us in to what kind of manager he is. It took a bit of time but it helped along the way of getting the vast majority of folk (myself included) to turn anger(at the board) around to just being able to support the guy and backing him.

Some of the lhads seem sound as * and I am sure will add lots to the forum, maybe even lasting long after Ange eventually leaves (we all hope after years of trophies and success).
However some still insist on the absolute cringe * licking of the guy and really, pack it in lads. We are all on board already.

 

I haven’t seen it in here, but as I said, on social media, particularly twitter in the first few days after he was appointed. I’m not gonna dig up 3-4 week old tweets to prove a point though

 

It’s such a simple thing, but you’re absolutely correct.

We depend on fan engagement for our revenue far more than other clubs in richer leagues. At least maximise that engagement through high level social media coverage and proper insight into the team that we plough our money into.

Dealing with the fans had become a chore for the board, imo. Something you did when we got too noisy, rather than an integral part of ensuring the fans feel as though the club belongs to them (and therefore back it financially).

 

If Kris the hun hasn’t come out and condemned our support the whole things gonna go tonto!

 

I think the majority of players will buy into it and the ones that don't can * right off.. By the sounds of it they will soon be hounded by Ange anyway..

This in itself will be a problem because it could add extra time onto our rebuild because those players will need replaced along with the players already needed..

Of all the managers we've had Ange will probably need the most time.. will he get that time? I hope so. He still needs a strong season no matter what

 

Looks like there was a lot of enthusiasm in those videos, although a lot of youth players who are likely to be chuffed just for training with the first team. Given the first friendly is Wednesday, you'd have to to expect that a few of those youngsters will be starting (or at least getting minutes) and a good performance could start to build a case for permanent inclusion.

This is standard Ange procedure - promoting youth and creating pressure on everyone to retain their place. Play his syle and play it well... you won't be dropped no matter who you are or how old you are. Might be a nasty shock coming for a few who thought their positions safe last year.

 

No racism to see. Lets move on

 

In my completely unknowledgeable, and unqualified opinion, there's a few generic points folk need to take onboard:

1) just because we don't know anything about him, doesn't mean he's a nobody. I knew nothing at all about Deila, and despite his shortcomings he still delivered 3 of 6 trophies domestically, and Ange is arguably much more experienced and seasoned than him. Deila pushed simple things; like fitness, diet and positivity, and only really fell down where proper guile and nous was required - Europe.
2) last season was a perfect storm of bad luck/events for us and a run of continuous good for the Huns. The likelihood that that lightning would strike again is astronomically high. We'd several covid incidents to their 'none', we'd what appeared to be a disinterested coaching crew while they crystallized around a 'stolen' title, they managed to get ahead in games played for virtually the whole season - SPFL usually force catch-up asap - so we couldn't possibly catch up and had almost no cup matches until Europe was already over for them. Add weird events like winning a match without a single shot etc, and we're looking at their '25 point lead over us' evaporating. The absence of fans was a godsend too, as they had no pressure and we'd no support.
3) relating to player 'buy-in', almost all of our 1st team players we've seen so far already look fitter and keener now, at the very start of preseason, than they did around January of last season. That shouldn't be possible in a professional setup, and I think shows they're either mad to make up for last year or delighted to see change from the old coaching. If the players have pride at all, they're hurting from last season's embarrassment.

I think we'll start strong, and that in itself will bring players and coaches together. Maybe not in time for CL qualification, but we need to remember that even Rodgers first match was ropey for a bit, and it was 100x easier that Ange's

 

To be perfectly honest threre have been a few aussie national managers and i have thought "who the * is is this coont"

 

I don't know that any Aussies have said he has zero weaknesses. There's been a lot of reference to his unrelenting attachment to his Plan A, his prickliness with the press and his tendency to abandon ship when unhappy with the management or commentariat.

While weaknesses, though these can also be strengths.

He sticks to his Plan A (which has evolved) because it has always worked.

He's prickly with the press because they tend to be * and he doesn't suffer fools.

He abandons ship because he's been let down or undermined.

It's the last of these that is most concerning.

I've also said in numerous places that the steepest learning curve will be the utterly different player/agent culture in Europe - that may well frustrate him.

The enormous crippling pressure of the Celtic job though? He won't feel that at all.

 

Bielsa spent the best part of 31 years coaching in Argentina, Mexico and Chille before being given a chance at Bilibao.

Pep considers him the greatest tactical coach in the world. Listen to Bilic talk about him, it's like he's praying at an alter, talks as if he's an unrivalled genius who's even a level above Pep and Conte.

Euro bias is definitely real.

 

Mate just go away to *. Another patronising, * Aussie who shoots his mouth off. Maguire is 100% correct. Absolutely, *, insufferable.

 

I did not say that. Read what I said. I am talking in general terms. Managing the Scottish national team or coaching Celtic - the pressures are not the same, given the realities of the position. The variables can not be the same because the environment is not the same. Ange has had success as both a national coach and a club coach.

 

So if you had a choice of coach based on character, who would you have chosen - Howe or Ange ? Let us presume Howe had taken the job, do you think he would have been a success ? Would Celtic have been guaranteed to sweep away every team before them with Howe in charge ? In that scenario Ange would not have come into the equation so you do not need to mention him when responding to the question. Sounds like you would have been in raptures getting a coach relegated to the English premiership. If Howe was such hot property why is he still looking for a gig ? Why would he even think of getting the Everton job in place of the outgoing coach ? Benitez has the profile to take over at Everton, not Howe. Was Celtic worthy of Howe ? I doubt it. Only time and results will tell for this coming season. The proof will be in the pudding, while Ange is in charge.

 

Pretty much all this.

Definitely his biggest issue will be transfers.
I would absolutely love to see him bring someone in that we know wasn't someone celtic had already looked and someone ange hadn't previously worked with, something to show up he knows the euro transfer game and can work with it.

If the board don't give him issues Ange is the kind of person who can absolutely change the way celtic has been going, somewhat of a mini revolution, to be relevant in Europe again BUT he is a massive risk for celtic but I also commend them for going for him, albeit he may be the 2nd 3rd or 50th choice.

I'm looking forward to him dealing with press, especially once he realises where alligences lie with them.