Ange Postecoglou admits only time and money can help Celtic find their feet at European football’s highest level after a brutal re-introduction to the UEFA Champions League this season.
The Scottish champions have one point to show from their first four games in Group F against Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk and RB Leipzig. Even a third-placed finish, which would take them into the knockout stage of the second-tier Europa League, would appear to be likely beyond Celtic, who face Shakhtar at home next week and are away to the Santiago Bernabéu on the last match day.
Ange Postecoglou is heading back home next month.Credit:Getty
Postecoglou has been disappointed but not disheartened by their performances, in which they’ve been typically fearless with their attacking intent yet unable to turn their best moments into the one currency that matters in the Champions League: goals.
“It hasn’t worked out for us this year,” the former Socceroos boss told the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
“I still think we’re falling short in a couple of areas that are pretty evident, particularly around the final third of the pitch, which is a difficult one to conquer – but no-one can tell me that we haven’t been competitive in all the games, and if we continue to be competitive every year, we’ll hit a sweet spot somewhere, and we can make more of an impact.”
Postecoglou has big ambitions for Celtic in Europe, and sure sounds like a man who is prepared to see out the journey ahead with them – despite recent speculation linking him to various English Premier League managerial vacancies, which will continue in the months and years ahead due to his increasingly high profile in the United Kingdom.
Luka Modric made his 100th appearance for the European champions when they faced Celtic last month.Credit:AP
“It’s a tough competition, whichever way you look at it – if you’re spending money, or you’re not, it’s the toughest club competition in the world,” Postecoglou said.
“You don’t go into that – a club like ours, after five years of absence – and go in there and dominate. It just doesn’t work that way. It does take time, and it does take being at that level on a constant basis and investing in the right ways to improve over time.
“Even that’s not guaranteed … because the competition doesn’t get any easier. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be ambitious, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have goals and aims for a club like ours.”
Celtic have seven more games to go in all competitions before their season breaks for the World Cup in Qatar, during which they’ll travel to Australia to face Sydney FC and Everton in friendlies as part of next month’s Sydney Super Cup.
It’ll be Postecoglou’s first extended break at home since leaving his job with the Socceroos and joining Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan – and his trip will include a two-show speaking tour, in Sydney and Melbourne, where he’ll take a deeper dive into his life in and out of football on stage with Nine sports presenter James Bracey.
The 57-year-old has spent much of his life trying to create football teams which can inspire fans and give them value for the hard-earned money – but he never quite thought the day would come where they’d be buying tickets to simply hear him speak.
“It’s a bit weird,” Postecoglou laughed. “But I guess it’s just indicative of how my whole world has changed, I guess, in the last few years. The position I’m in at the moment, I think it’s a fairly unique one, where I have this unique opportunity and insight into a world that we’ve kind of looked at from afar. It’s pretty rare, but it’s kind of become the norm for me now – I’m in a different space.”
AN EVENING WITH ANGE POSTECOGLOU
SYDNEY: Tuesday November 22, Aware Super Theatre
MELBOURNE: Wednesday November 23, Margaret Court Arena
Tickets available through Ticketek
