It’s a new Scottish Premiership season but it’s business as usual for Ange Postecoglou and his Celtic troops.
A 37-game (and counting) unbeaten streak, the biggest away win in league history and a perfect start to the league campaign.
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Yeah, that’s pretty much business as usual in the green and white half of Glasgow since the Aussie took over last year.
A 9-0 obliteration of Dundee United has the Celtic faithful and indeed others once again singing the praises of the former Socceroos boss.
Speaking after the game, Postecoglou lauded his players for not letting their foot off the gas, even if the home side had all but transformed into witches hats at half time.
It was the perfect encapsulation of Postecoglou’s famous pre-season quote from last year that has almost become a club motto: “we never stop.”
Perhaps it is a mark of frustration brewing on the blue side of Glasgow that a Rangers fan by the name of Tom called up a Scottish radio station to complain about Celtic, well, not stopping.
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“Yesterday’s game between Celtic and Dundee United, I’ve got the greatest of respect for Celtic, I’m a Rangers supporter but the way they’re playing is magnificent at the moment,” Tom said on Clyde One.
“But what are these young lads going to think about at Dundee United, the way they were beaten?
“Four, five-nil, yeah, great, but why carry on til nine?”
Clyde One radio host Gordon Duncan asked Tom if he felt that Celtic should simply have stopped scoring, to which Tom replied: “I wouldn’t say stop scoring, but let Dundee United play.”
Under Postecoglou’s watch, that was never going to happen.
To relent under the 57-year-old is to go against the very grain of his philosophy of how the game must be played.
However, a former Celtic star believed Postecoglou might be “slightly disappointed” with the result.
It seems baffling the Hoops boss could have a tinge of frustration about the result, but given those three famous words, it becomes easier to understand why.
“I thought Celtic were going to go one better than Liverpool on Saturday and actually make it 10-0,” Kris Commons wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.
“When Brendan Rodgers first arrived at Celtic, I can vividly remember him telling us that he wanted to beat a team 10-0. Celtic were leading 9-0 yesterday and still had ten minutes left at the end to make it 10-0.
“In his heart of hearts, Ange Postecoglou will probably be slightly disappointed they didn’t quite manage it.”
The fact a 147-game Celtic veteran felt Postecoglou may have left Tannadice with an empty stomach is a mark of how far he has taken the club since he arrived.
The Aussie also has two pre-seasons and a full league campaign in the bank, meaning there is still room for the current Hoops crop to grow and become even more fluent in ‘Angeball’.
Such a remarkable turnaround in the space of just over 12 months has several prominent footballing figures waxing lyrical.
Jordan Gardner, a European football executive and an investor in Swansea City, took to Twitter to share he is“not sure there’s been a better coaching hire recently in global football than Ange Postecoglou at Celtic.”
Former Swiss international Ramon Vega, who spent one season with the Hoops, believes bringing Postecoglou to Glasgow was the transformation the club needed.
“This Ange Postecoglou manager at @CelticFC is for sure one of the best things the Club has done for a long while,” Vega wrote on Twitter.
“He has totally changed the outfit and play of this time to be a very competitive and winning team. Well done Ange.”
Although it’s been a perfect start to the season, most neutral observers will get to witness Postecoglou’s biggest tests in the space of five days.
On September 7, Celtic take on Real Madrid at Parkhead in their first Champions League group stage.
But before Postecoglou’s troops can test their mettle against the reigning kings of Europe, they must take on bitter rivals Rangers in the first Old Firm derby of the season.
Once again, Parkhead will play host to the historic fixture.
But, as former Celtic and Socceroos striker Scott McDonald pointed out, the way Postecoglou has his side playing is a major warning sign for Rangers’ title aspirations.
“Some of the passing was electrifying,” McDonald told Sky Sports.
“Since Ange Postecoglou has taken over you see the attacking style he wants to play and the players have really bought into it.
“It really is a statement of intent, a ‘catch me if you can.’”
Playing catch-up to Celtic is a dangerous and almost impossible game for any opponent, let alone Rangers.
Why?
Because, as Postecoglou famously said in a pre-season training session, “we never stop.”
