Ange Postecoglou is being hailed for creating Scotland’s greatest team of the modern era after Celtic romped home to a second-straight league title with a whopping four games to spare.
The Australian manager took the reins at Parkhead last season amid widespread criticism, with many saying he wouldn’t last a season inside the pressure cooker that is managing Celtic.
Two SPL titles later — Celtic is also on-track to complete a domestic treble this season — Postecoglou is being showered with the highest possible praise from pundits for the new dynasty he has set-up for the Hoops.
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Writing for The Scotsman, Andrew Smith compared Postecoglou’s Celtic to the other great modern, Scottish teams; Brendon Rodgers’ undefeated Celtic of 2016-17, and Steven Gerard’s undefeated Rangers of 2020-21.
Smith wrote that for the style and consistency Postecoglou has created at Celtic, it is the clear top team despite having lost once this season.
“The sparkle, the sheen, the scintillating manner with which Postecoglou and his playing gems have dazzled the opposition within their, albeit modest, domain demands any hint of indifference be eschewed,” he wrote.
“For, make no mistake, in the modern age of the Scottish top flight there hasn’t been a team as consistently entertaining and enterprising as the flailing funsters the Australian has finessed.
“For sheer watchability, though, Postecoglou’s men need not defer to either of these teams. Not when they boast a 9-0 win, a six-goal mauling, two five-goal returns, and five encounters when they have netted four times across 33 games that have yielded 30 wins, two draws and that solitary defeat.”
Postecoglou and Celtic claim Premiership | 02:33
Smith noted that Postecoglou’s Celtic could still set the record for the highest points total in the history of Scottish football, even with a loss on its record.
If Celtic wins all five of its remaining games, it would reach 107 points, beating Rodgers’ invincibles on 106. With 14 more goals, Celtic could also break the scoring record of 116, set in 1916.
“These landmarks are still in play because of the intoxicating mix of drive and deftness that has characterised Celtic’s displays for so much of the campaign,” Smith wrote.
He added that that “flows” from Postecoglou’s demands that the team “never waste a minute”.
The Glasgow Times’ chief football writer Matthew Lindsay wrote that Postecoglou already defied the odds by returning Celtic to the top of the tree in his first season, but faced the prospect of ‘Second Album Syndrome’ in his next campaign.
He described the mountain he faced as “a tall order if not impossible task”.
“If anything, though, Postecoglou has made even more of an impact on the Scottish game this season than he did in his first,” he wrote.
Lindsay wrote that “good coaching, sound tactics and astute man management have all played a part”, but noted Postecoglou’s nous in the transfer market for “underpinning” his success.
Postecoglou’s biggest buys were just over £12 million on Cameron Carter-Vickers and winger Jota, while other key recruits were signed on a pittance, such as fellow Australian Aaron Mooy for free, or other shrewd signings Kyogo Furuhashi and right back Alistair Johnston.
Lindsay said that Postecoglou’s success has now once again triggered the big questions for Celtic, which have a way of re-emerging after its strongest seasons.
“Have they outgrown Scottish football? Should they move down to England or join a breakaway European super league? They are backhanded compliments in a way,” he wrote.
He added: “Can Ange Postecoglou, the Greek-Australian with the weird name who few had heard of and whose appointment many ridiculed, take Celtic to a higher level in the 2023/24 season? It will be a big ask. But do not bet against it.”
Meanwhile, former Celtic player and analyst Stilyan Petrov believes that this already-dominant Celtic group may only continue to get better under Postecoglou.
Asked on Sky Sports how his side has achieved this level of consistency, Petrov said: “It’s the manager. It’s the messages. It’s everything he does day-to-day. It’s the staff around the place.
“He develops. This is what he does. He develops the players and the style of play.
“When you have a manager who drives that every day, there is no question that they will continue to develop and improve in the right manner.”
