The oft-heard wisdom is that every player plays for money and every player ultimately plays for himself. But if that was true then no manager would ever be able to command a dressing room.
Certainly, no manager would ever be able to inspire a whole team.
Ange Postecoglou is gifted that way.
When you hear other managers talk about how they intend to crack the whip and then you look at the way this guy goes about his business you recognise that he’s a man who commands respect without ever having to raise his voice.
He’s proved himself through his CV, his talent and his ideas.
Listening to Alastair Johnson talk about the reasons he signed for Celtic you hear Wanyama being given credit and you hear about the club itself being a massive draw and playing in front of 60,000 people being what football is all about … and then you hear him talk about the manager and how one conversation with him sealed the deal.
Ange Postecoglou is Celtic’s biggest asset. That’s not to say that we couldn’t sign players without him or that his ideas make an otherwise unpalatable prospect an easy sell … those other things, our name, our reputation, we the fans, they still stand up, they still hold sway, but more and more it’s clear that Ange himself is now part of the magic.
He is special, and he can make other people understand that he’s special in very short order.
I once wondered how this guy would get on walking into a dressing room in a strange country with people he’d never met, people who might have preconceived notions about where he’s from and where he’s coached until it dawned on me that he’s faced those doubts before, when he went to Japan, and he triumphed there. He has nothing to prove.
And it is this man who is one of the key drivers for people who want to play for us.
They recognise in him something appealing, something that makes them want to trust in him and uproot their lives and come on over here and give their all for this club.
I know not everyone in Parkhead will accept this, but Ange Postecoglou is the beating heart of this club. He is the man at its core and everything that happens should flow through him and orbit around him.
If we do that, everything will be just fine.
I couldn’t agree more, in Ange we trust.He is a pair of safe hands but with a firm desire to improve the whole set up at Celtic Park, in fact that desire is limitless. The challenges when he went to Japan were even more daunting than his arrival in Glasgow, for he had the language and cultural differences to contend with. in fact, the Glasgow experience must have been quite an easy transition for him in comparison. In reality, the Postecoglou journey has barely began and we have a lot more highs to come under Ange’s stewardship, we are lucky to have him, but he is also very lucky to have us and he very much appreciates that fact.
Very well said Johnny.
when it was announced Ange was going to be the new manager a lot of fans thought who is this guy this club needs a good manager,it didn’t take them long to see big Ange was the real deal and what he has done is unbelievable,firstly the fans at that time we’re worried about what the club would do without edouards,Ange signed kyogo and suddenly it was who needs edouards,he is not only playing the style of attacking football I love to see,but he also sorted out the defence and not only did he make it the best defence in the country, but instead of being the whipping boys in the champions League we genuinely had a good chance to get out if a difficult group,playing at that level doesn’t happen overnight,look at what nan utd have spent and we’re they are,it’s a building process by players like. kyogo,Riley,jota etc enjoy them while they are there and make a profit selling them on and invest wisely in the team and we can go places again and just keep going from strength to stength
II agree with everything you say about Ange James, but I still feel that Lawwell will eventually rock the boat. All of us Celtic fans need to let the rest of the Celtic directors know that we are all watching Lawwell and that he had better keep away from the football side of things even if it means the Green Brigade putting up a banner warning him and that we are all keeping an eye on him.
We are lucky to have him.
No doubt whatsoever?
Agree with all of that J.G. If I remember correctly this blog wasn’t particularly welcoming in its comments when Ange was first identified as the potential manager and when he was installed as such. I’m sure he was aware of the noise around that, of the disappointment of the Howe u-turn and the daunting assessment of the state of the squad must have made him puke. He’s showed some guts and a shed full of self-confidence then and since and he and we have been rewarded. Howe’s doing a great job at Newcastle but bhoy am I glad we got Ange.
It’s about time our board honoured Ange with where he has got us and did it through a decent contract for him to show how much he is appreciated before someone comes along and tries to steal him, because it will happen.