A manager at a club the size of Celtic is never going to be short of people playing Monday Money Quarterback.
Folk are willing to second guess their judgment, in public, all across football and in the press. The addition of the fan media makes it even more complicated. A manager at a club the size of Celtic has to shut most of that that stuff out.
There will be times when this leads to disaster.
Lennon was getting plenty of advice, much of it good, as he steered the club to catastrophe. He ignored it all and pushed forward. Had he been willing to flex, just a little, and take some of it onboard we might have ended up in a better place.
There is real talent in knowing what to listen to and take on board and what to shut out. And when it comes to a manager’s first few months in the job, I am tempted to say that no outside advice should be heeded at all.
A manager must have his own vision and he must be free to work through it to get to where he wants to be.
Right now, Ange has to shut it all down and focus.
Because this is the time when he’s forming opinions on players and on coaches all on his own.
Transfer targets will be presented to him for his approval.
He will approve some and disdain some of the others.
He must not let anyone interfere with that process or try to second guess it.
Ange Postecoglou must have total command.
Take Chris Sutton. He’s spent the last few days telling the manager he has to clear out the dressing room and not even to let the likes of Christie, Ajer and Edouard train with the squad.
What would be the point in that?
To send a message to the world that these players are trouble makers who can’t be trusted to be professional?
It’s stupid, and it’s not even true.
These three will leave the club in due course. That’s inevitable.
They all have one foot out the door.
But until they are actually out the door, they are all still part of this squad.
If the manager feels like he can trust them he will work with them for now and perhaps even play them.
I wouldn’t want them in the team, but I trust his judgement on the matter and if he selects them I’m sure that he won’t then go on to blame them for anything that goes wrong.
See, Lennon lost the dress room. He alienated players. He didn’t sufficiently control the club … this guy doesn’t look as if he’ll have any difficult y showing people who the boss is.
Whether it’s players or the coaching staff, I expect everyone knows that Ange holds the controls.
The same applies to signings and deciding who to retain.
The decision to give Griffiths a new deal isn’t universally popular and already a lot of critics are stepping up to tell him how wrong he was. Others, like the social media sites, are clamouring for certain signings.
I wonder where Charlie Wyke is, and suspect that if the deal is off it’s Ange who decided it.
This man will rise or fall depending on the decisions he makes in the here and now.
This is the most critical time for him, the window in which he can impose his will on everyone and push forward with his own vision. He must have the freedom to do it and the belief to strength to do it his own way.
That’s how his legend will be made.