The real reason why Ange Postecoglou rocked up solo to Celtic without any trusty lieutenants has been revealed.
The former Hoops boss enjoyed two trophy-laden seasons at Parkhead after bringing his attacking ‘Angeball’ style to the Scottish Premiership. The 59-year-old signed off with a domestic Treble and delivered time after time in the transfer market for Celtic with the Hoops still reaping the rewards for his efforts. They sold Matt O’Riley and Jota – both signed under the now Tottenham boss for big money – with the latter back permanently for a second stint. The likes of Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Cameron Carter-Vickers continue to shine weekly for now boss Brendan Rodgers along with other star names.
He may not have been a well known name when he arrived in Scotland but the time he had left he made a big impression and with that landed a big shot at the riches of the English Premier League in North London. He’s enduring a nightmare spell at present with Spurs going through a real injury crisis as they bid to get key players back and turn their fortunes around.
However, looking back to his arrival. He decided to pitch up to Celtic on his own without a backroom team. He instead worked with what was in the building at Lennoxtown and former Australia No1 Mark Schwarzer has opened up on the response he got from Ange after he asked him that all important question – and in return he got a typical response you’d associate with the Aussie.
Speaking on the Seaman Says podcast in association with Betway, he said: “100 per cent. It’s just that whole thing of carrying the flag. We’ve had it with players coming into the Premier League and that kind of barrier has been broken down. We had a period of time when probably at our peak, I think it was eight of us playing regularly in the Premier League, which is phenomenal for a sport that participation wise is No. 1 but in terms of national level, it’s not necessarily the No. 1 sport. And then we’ve never had a manager at this level before. So to have someone like Ange who’s been as successful as he’s been in terms of the opportunities he got.
“He went to Japan and did really well, and then the opportunity to go to Celtic. People say, “well, it’s the Scottish Premiership” – it is [disrespectful]. Celtic and Rangers are, as we all know, enormous. And the global appeal, the global position, the support that they have is incredible. They’re anomalies in leagues that are not known for being that strong and that big. To see that how big they are around the world is just mind-blowing from a lesser league, so to speak.
“I think people forget how good a job he did at Celtic. He went there off the back of a 25-point deficit from the previous season. He went in there alone. He didn’t take an assistant manager, he didn’t take a staff. And this is what I really admire about him –he went there, his first massive opportunity to come into European football at a huge club, and he didn’t take one single member of staff with him. He went there by himself.
“The fans, from my understanding, wanted the staff’s blood as well. They wanted them all out. They wanted a massive clear out. They thought they were just bad news. He came in and gave everyone an opportunity. He said, “you know the club better than I do. you know the area, you know the fans, you know everything better than I do. But this is how I want to play, this is what I’m going to do, this is how I’m going to be.
“I asked him the question why he went there with no one, He said, “for me personally, going into a club in that environment where you don’t take your own people means that you can’t come in on any given day and be relaxed. You can’t come in and go, he’s got my back.” So he knows that every day he walks in, he’s got to be on his guard, he’s got to make sure that he’s doing the best he possibly can. And then he’s demanding from his staff exactly the same. So to turn it all around and then go and win the league and win it as convincingly as they did was incredible.
“And then he brought in Harry Kewell as one of the coaches, but he never brought people in who he’d worked with all the time. He brought other people in. He says it openly himself now, “I’m an Australian, I’m in a privileged position. I am going to give other Australians an opportunity.” So he got Mile Jedinak his first proper coaching job. He’s at Tottenham. But these are no mugs, these are people who are good.”