Ange Postecoglou

Class. Wouldn’t see Beale getting his brogues dirty

 

I heard he changed the tire, with no jack, no wrench nothing. Just lifted the motor with one hand and unscrewed the wheel nuts with his other hand. All the while signing autographs and picking a team for tomorrow.

Hero

 

Every word Ange Postecoglou said in his pre-match press conference ahead of Celtic taking on Aberdeen at Pittodrie in the Scottish Premiership.

How does it feel to be back?

It's good we have sort of been back for a couple of weeks now and we had a good week in Portugal and a good week here and we are ready to get going again.

How much do you think tour players are able to take it up to the next level in this next stretch of games?

That's kind of our challenge and that is our aim and ambition. We have had a strong start in the league and the key to that is improving. I don't see any reason why we shouldn't. Our league form has been really strong even though we had a hectic schedule including Champions League games going into the break. Whilst the schedule is just as challenging moving forward we do not have Champions League games and we have a couple of players back from injury as well which will help us going forward.


Can we get some injury updates - is Callum McGregor back and ready to play?

Yes. Callum's good and he is raring to go. In terms of absences, the only ones we have got are James McCarthy and Stephen Welsh who picked up a niggle on the last day of camp in Portugal and will miss a couple of weeks. Aside from that everyone else is good. Carl Starfelt who missed a fair chunk of the early part of the season is also back and Jota had a slight niggle going into the break but they have all trained well and everyone else has a clean bill of health at this stage.




Have you had an injury update on Josip Juranovic?

Not really. My understanding is that he is not going to play tomorrow. I don't think it is anything serious. We will give him a week off anyway. We have done that with all the World Cup lads and given them the week off once they have finished their commitments and hopefully he will be ready to go after that.

How good is it to have Callum McGregor back for the resumption of the league campaign?

It's good but to be fair to the lads they have coped in his absence really well. That was one of our challenges when you lose such an influential figure on and off the field. How do you sort of cover that absence? In both areas, I thought the boys stepped up and in particular, Matt O'Riley, Reo Hatate, Aaron Mooy and David Turnbull all put in a shift to cover that on the field and off the field in terms of his leadership. We also have guys like Joe Hart and Cameron Carter-Vickers stood up. It's great having him back. He is a fantastic footballer and a major influence in and around our football club and that will make us stronger.

In terms of the World Cup contingent do you have any reservations about putting them in tomorrow given their exertions?

No. They have all had a week off. All our players have had a week off. The ones who didn't go to the World Cup had a week off after Australia and all the guys plus Alistair Johnston were given a week off once they had finished their commitments. That's plenty mate. A week off for them and they are ready to come back and ready to play.




Sead Haksabanovic is the player of the month - how pleased are you with him?

Sead has done really well. I've said a few times he came late to the piece and it has probably taken him a little while to get up to speed physically as well as playing our football. He's been a great contributor in a number of different areas and there is more to come from him. He is just getting into the swing of things in an area of the park where we are really strong he is a really solid contributor and we'll see the best of him in the second half of the season. I'm looking forward to seeing what he has to offer.

Can you see a marked improvement in him?

Only from the point of view that he came to us late having missed a fair bit of football. He missed pre-season and he had a difficult season with his previous club. It was always going to take him a little bit of time to settle here and the way we play and the way we train in terms of the fitness levels. He has gotten stronger as the season has progressed and that gives him the opportunity to have that foundation to kick on. Hopefully, he can have a strong second half of the season




What have you made of Josip Juranovic's performances at the World Cup and how good is it for you to see one of your players playing on the biggest stage in the world?

He's done brilliantly well. It is great for him and he has represented his country and our football club really well. He has had strong performances against world-class opponents. To be fair, I thought all our boys did well. Aaron was outstanding for Australia to get them to the knockout stages. Cameron was brilliant in the game he played. Daizen has come back after scoring a World Cup goal and not many footballers get to experience that. Alistair Johnston had three strong games for Canada. From our perspective sometimes it is challenging when your players go away with their national teams and don't play much. That would have been a little bit more difficult for us. Having them all go away and be really strong at that level is good. It's good for them as it gives them more self-belief having matched up against the world's best. It is great for us as a football club that they represent us as well.




On Josip, he seems to be garnering attention from several clubs in Europe, do you think that is just natural when you are playing so well on such a big stage and if big offers were to come in for him in the January window would the club look at them?

It is great that Josip is getting noticed as that is what you want. I want our players to get noticed. If they weren't getting noticed then they wouldn't be doing well. He has done well and represented his country and our football club fantastically well. Aside from that mate, you started it with an if and I will give you an if back. If it stops snowing I will be able to drive back home without getting out of my car so that will be fine too.

Aberdeen have quite an impressive record at home this season what are you expecting from them?

It is always a tough game. Even last year we won there twice but they were both tough games. I expect a tough game and you are right their home form is great. It has probably been missed by a few people but our away form is not bad either.

The team performed well without Callum McGregor in there and now that he is back how important is it to have his experience back for the second half of the season?

It's not just his experience but his quality. He is a top footballer. He is our captain and our leader. Every time you get a player like that back after an absence the whole group feels good about it. I am sure he is looking to hit the ground running. He has worked really hard in training during the last couple of weeks to get himself back up to speed. I am looking forward to having him back in the team. There is no doubt he'll make us stronger.

Celtic had a gruelling schedule of games before the break and they have another one coming up now with three very tough away games at Pittodrie, Easter Road and Ibrox is that squad rotation something that we will see throughout the season and are we at a place where you are happy with the squad?

I think it's fair to say we needed to do that through that period. I think the reason our form was really strong in the league was that we did not get too many injuries during that time. We were able to put out a strong team after midweek excursions, particularly in the Champions League. There is no doubt that if I did not rotate the team we would have suffered injury wise and that would have affected us. That served us well and I think it will serve us well moving forward. We have still got a busy schedule coming up. From my perspective, it is about making sure the whole squad is ready to go when required and players are ready to step up when the opportunity arises for them. Right now we are in a pretty good place squad wise and we have added a couple of players who will be available on January 1 which will also help us. Part of our strength will be to put out a strong team every week irrespective of the schedule we have.

How important will Matt O'Riley be going forward given he will now be moving back to his more advanced role in the midfield?

I think it is important. There was a really good period for Matt and Reo [Hatate] up until the break. They took the responsibility of playing almost every game and being young men they would have not been used to a schedule like that before. The fact they got through it very strong and by contributing shows their mindset. For Matt in particular, playing a little bit deeper, he was restricted in terms of how forward he could get. I think it has given him an even deeper appreciation for the role further up the field now. I believe he has goals in him, as do Reo and David Turnbull. They are an important part of our setup as while the attacking players are always dangerous, it is good to have threats all over the field.

Scott Robertson has been in the papers saying his time at Celtic is likely over. What advice did you give him for his future career?

Okay. Well I do not think he should be calling things himself in the papers. Scott is one of those players who has been here for a long time and has aspirations of playing for this football club. Sometimes timing or circumstances mean these things do not work out but that does not mean they cannot have a meaningful career. My advice to Scott and all the young players is ultimately it is about them having a football career they can be proud of. Sometimes it is about going to a place you can play more as after you reach a certain age your next phase of development comes from playing. You can train and get the information when you are younger but Scott is 21 now so he needs to go and play regularly. I have no doubt he can make a career for himself. Sometimes it is all about the timing or what is in your way and if that does not happen for him here then I am sure there will be more opportunities for him elsewhere.

 

What a * man...

 

Pushing cars in my Celtic tracksuit' - Ange Postecoglou on helping stranded motorists stuck in snow on his way to training
Few would surely consider that Ange Postecoglou’s oft-repeated ‘we never stop’ Celtic mantra could assist in the dislodging of a snowbound car.


Yet judging by the Australian’s account of the scenario that led to him being presented as the good Samaritan to a commuter in such a pickle near the club’s Lennoxtown base on Friday, that appears to have been the case. As he explained. “The weather was terrible and, to be fair, there was a young lady and a couple of nice young men who were out there helping another stranded motorist. I think I was there for motivation. They couldn’t stop while I was there and that’s one area I can help in.

“I wouldn’t be any good chasing down anyone, but I just did my bit. It’s tricky driving in these conditions, so I was happy to help out. It’s not stuff I would have thought about it [going to training]. If I did, I wouldn’t be running around in my Celtictracksuit pushing cars around the place…That’s just life. We all live life. We are human beings and, if we can be kind to one another, that makes the world a better place.”






The Scottish champions have already signed off on deals for Japanese central defender Yuki Kobayashi and Canadian right-back Alastair Johnston, but the 57-year-old isn’t necessarily finished there. “We’re still working on a few things. Whether they will happen or not, we will see,” said the Celtic manager, before joking: “If I feel something is there that will make us stronger then, as much as Michael [Nicholson, chief executive] and Chris [McKay, chief financial officer] may want to have a quiet Christmas, I’m going to keep them working over that time and keep them on their toes.

“We’re still working on things. [There are] no guarantees, but we’ve not even hit January yet, so we’ll see how things transpire. But it’s great to get Alistair and Yuki in. They have a couple of weeks to settle before they are available [on January 1] and we’ll see what else transpires over the next few weeks.”




Torino, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have been credited with stepping up interest in Juranovic following the Croatian’s strong showings helping his nation reach the World Cup semi-final. But Postecoglou doesn’t seem to be bracing himself for the loss of the 27-year-old, who will miss the third-place play off game with Morroco on Saturday with a calf injury but should be available for his club’s trip east to face Hibs on December 28.




I don’t even think about it,” he said. “I hope all of our players are getting the attention because it means we have good players here. From my perspective, I think all our boys [Daizen Maeda, Aaron Mooy and Cameron Carter-Vickers the others] did really well at the World Cup and that’s a reflection of how they are developing at our football club. I think that is the most important thing. I’m sure a lot of our players are getting attention and will continue to get attention and that’s what we want: clubs looking at our players, people talking about our football club. I think they are all positive.”

Meanwhile, the Celtic manager refuses to fuss himself over reports the club are seeking to sell Giorgos Giakoumakis as a result of talks on an improved deal for the Greek striker breaking down. “What I deal with is what I see every day,” the Australian said. “He’s here, he’s training well, he’s contributing and I’m not really sure of anything beyond that. It’s not really on my radar.”

 

Coming in to post a pic. Seen Notorious was last to post. Didn't even need to open the thread to know he beat me to it.

 

And as usual it's straight after someone else has already beaten him to it.

 

I didn't even notice that

 

Some man.

 

Ange complaining about Robertson talking to the papers about Celtic not renewing his contract, whit the * does Ange expect Robertson to do, bhoy needs a job so he’s putting it out that he’s available, I do like Ange but he’s not gods gift to everything, although if I’m stuck in snow I’d like him giving me a push.

 

Pretty sure that’s why he has an agent Jake. It’s just not a good look when players go to the press. With respect Ange & Celtic haven’t spoken out publicly about him so why would we be pleased that he’s done that about us? No issues with Ange being unhappy about it. Also sends a clear message that this is not how he likes business to be conducted, on a public forum. Entirely appropriate I think.

 

hero

 

Thought he could've changed it up a bit quicker with Jackie on but job done..

We just have a belief and don't panic at the end of games. You could clearly see that today. I was getting frustrated at too many passes but we were patient and found a way..

All comes from him..