Australian Ange Postecoglou, manager of Scottish champions Celtic, has opened up on his incredible time at the club – and what comes next.
Postecoglou broke records in Australia with Brisbane Roar, led the Socceroos at the 2014 World Cup and to a maiden Asian Cup in 2015, before an incredible league title with Yokohoma F Marinos in Japan. It led the Scottish giants to sign the Australian mastermind – a move that came as a surprise to many pundits and fans given his lack of experience managing in Europe.
The Australian turned the struggling side around and led them to a league and domestic cup double in his debut campaign, with the club currently leading great Old Firm rivals Rangers in this year’s Scottish Premiership race.
But he’s had little time to reflect on his impressive achievements so far.
Postecoglou told foxsports.com.au: “Sort of, particularly here, the football world moves on pretty quickly so you don’t have a lot of time to kind of reflect.
“But for me, the key thing is that I wanted to come here and sort of make an impact from a football perspective, in terms of getting the team to play a certain way and getting the fans sort of excited by the football we’re going to play. And I think we’ve started that process. And certainly, the last sort of 15-16 months I’ve been here we’ve established ourselves as a football team who plays a certain way and which I think resonates well with the fans of this football club.
“And for me, that’s always gonna be the key driver to keep improving that, to keep building on that. And hopefully you’re creating that the supporters can be proud of.”
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Postecoglou is renowned for his attacking tactics and high-pressing defences, with his teams swarming opponents without possession – and often battering down their defences when they do have the ball. It’s an approach that demands a lot from his players, and one that many believed wouldn’t hold up to scrutiny in Scotland.
But the Australian tactician never faltered in his belief that his methods could succeed, despite inheriting a team that had struggled the season prior, falling short in the title race by a whopping 25 points.
“A lot of those things, I was well aware of what I was walking into. It’s not like it was totally unknown to me, what I was embarking on in terms of the club I was taking over, the size of the club, the expectations around the club. And from my perspective, whenever I’ve taken on a challenge, it’s been about making sure that (I stay true to my ideals). I am confident in my abilities to sort of produce football teams that play a certain way.
“It was just (about) what was the process that was going to get us there? Again, I had a pretty clear idea what I was taking on, and from my perspective, it’s actually I thought that it would work well, because I kind of understood that the passion of the people for football here is exactly what I was after.”
Celtic’s brilliant performances – and their attractive brand of football – led to strong reports of interest from multiple Premier League clubs. Postecoglou brushed aside those rumours, unsurprising given his dedication to the project at hand.
Asked if he ever took calls from Premier League clubs, Postecoglou laughed it off.
“It doesn’t work that way mate, I don’t field calls! I’ve got a pretty private number. And people go through different channels for that. But it doesn’t come on my radar.
“Right at the moment, I’m really focused. I’ve got a massive job. And as I said, we’re just building a side here. And I’ve never looked too far ahead. If you look at my career, it’s kind of gone in places where I’ve always been challenged, and right now the challenge is here. And I’m enjoying it, we’re still building something here.
“I don’t change that focus in respect to what outside noise there may be about myself. It’s no different to being a player. If you do well, obviously, you get attention. But none of that happens unless you’re doing the job you do very well.”
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Celtic this season is competing in the Champions League proper for the first time in 2016-17. They’ve failed to hit their stride so far in Europe’s top tournament – but Postecoglou delivered a trademark response when asked about their continental campaign.
“Yeah no, I wasn’t going to win the Champions League in my first year mate. So you know, I think it’s one thing to say that we’ve had success (domestically), but success can be measured many ways, and for us that’s about how we play our football and, you know, this year’s Champions League is our first time in five years. And we, in all the games, have been really competitive. We’ve tried to play the way I want us to play. And, you know, I’m really proud of that.
“We’ve fallen short, that’s something we need to improve. And the areas we fall short is especially in the final third we haven’t taken our chances. But from my perspective, it’s all about building a football team that plays a certain way. And, you know, it’s sort of our first foray into Europe and into the Champions League, the toughest competition in the world. We’ve shown that that’s the approach we’re going to take and for me that’s the key thing.”
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Postecoglou is the first Australian to manage in the men’s competition, but he’s not focused on that special achievement.
“For me it’s just part of what I do as a manager,” he said. “What’s more important is that the club is at that level, because I’m representing a massive football club that’s got a great history and tradition and an unbelievable supporter base, and this is the level they want to be competing in. So that’s where my responsibility lies.
“You know, all the experiences I’ve had in my managerial career, whether that’s World Cups or domestic leagues around the world, and the success I’ve had, is something I’ll reflect on when my career’s over. But the greatest pride I take at the moment, what’s special is that I’ve got this football club back at the levels it wants to be at. Now my role is to continue to make sure we’re competing at this level.”
The Premier League can wait.
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Postecoglou will also be sharing his journey with Australian fans at two special events next month, “An Evening with Ange Postecoglou – The Journey So Far” presented by TEG Live. Tickets for the events in Sydney and Melbourne are available now from this link.
