It’s looking increasingly likely that Ange Postecoglou will become the new Celtic manager. Sky Sports have reported that the Scottish Premiership side have agreed a compensation package with Japanese club Yokohama F. Marinos to take the Aussie boss to Parkhead.

It has been a bit of a wait for the Hoops fans as they’ve seen number one target Eddie Howe turn down the job. The delay in getting a new gaffer in, along with the hugely disappointing season they endured last season has seen the support turn a bit cranky lately.

Some will question Ange’s credentials, he’s never worked with big European side before. The Celtic support will also demand to be challenging for silverware next term.

Now this might be hard to understand in Glasgow but the fans might have to be patient and give Postecoglou some time to prove himself on these shores.

When you look at the type of football that the Australian likes to see his teams play – attack minded with an intense high press and to play out from the back – then you can see similarities with esteemed coaches like Marcelo Bielsa and Maurizio Sarri.

When you look at those gifted individuals, you’ll notice they’re usually at their best in longterm projects and need time to get their philosophy to work at certain clubs.

Even Ange Postecoglou’s own CV suggests he might take a season to get players used to his system. He won league titles in Australia and in Japan but only after slightly inconsistent first years, which involved a squad rebuild.

But once his teams got up to speed with his tactics and his style, then they became winners. It was all about drilling the players and perfecting the game plan. Then his methods bear fruit.

Rivals Rangers decided to give current manager Steven Gerrard time. In that time he made mistakes but he learned from them and he’s now managing the Scottish Premiership champions.

That’s not to say that the fifty-five year old won’t win things in his maiden season in charge in Glasgow’s east end, if he takes over.

Dick Advocaat and Brendan Rodgers rebuilt their respective squads and changed their style and commanded instant success. But they also had different starting points. Advocaat had limitless funds and not the strongest Celtic side to catch, Rodgers took over a club that had little competition to come up against and had already developed a winning mentality.

Former Gers defender Craig Moore is probably not a go to guy for recommendations for the Celtic faithful but he has given Ange a glowing report:

People think he’s a little bit of an unknown but I think that’s a little bit ignorant. If you do a bit of research you see he’s been successful wherever he’s been.

“He’s very ambitious and coming from Australia that can work against you a little bit, but he has a real drive.

“He’s a very pro-active coach in terms of style and brand of football. He does play entertaining football, and whatever team he’s had, they’ve scored goals.

“Like Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola, he really likes his teams to play football in the right way.

Via The Scottish Sun

I’d urge the Celtic support to give Ange Postecoglou time to get things right at Parkhead. It might not happen instantly but give him a season and see if things have improved within that time.

Supporters always bang on about playing the ‘Celtic Way’ but it’s not the easiest thing to get right. The Aussie gaffer has a history of getting his sides to play attractive football but could just take a bit of time to get there!

Posted on June 6th, 2021 by scott
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