“Everyone wants to win,” Ange Postecoglou said at his first media conference at Celtic Park yesterday as he was unveiled alongside incoming CEO Dom McKay as the new Celtic manager. Together the pair were impressive, signalling a new era at the club and as McKay noted at the Fan media conference the season ticket renewals are much more than he was expecting, describing the numbers as “off the scale.”
Celtic Ticket Office is working throughout the weekend processing the renewals and any tickets that haven’t been renewed will be offered to those on the waiting list shortly.
“There isn’t a football manager or player in the world who doesn’t want to win,” the New Celtic manager continued, before explaining a little on his own playing days back in Australia and noted one or two Celtic connections he made along the way.
“It was a proper team I played for in Australia — South Melbourne. It was a club from Greek immigrants who made the journey from over here to there. Back then, it was part of national competition — the First Division.
Frank Munro in action for Celtic
“At the time, we had a lot of players from the UK. We signed Frank Munro from Celtic when he was at the end of his career. I played with Danny Crainie who played with Celtic.
“I walked into the dressing room and it was, ‘Hey, wee man’ and ‘Hey, big man.’ I was a kid of Greek background, so, culturally, it was interesting for me. But the one thing it did was keep feeding this thing inside my head about how big football is.
“They would talk, particularly, the guys from the UK — and we had four of five Scotsmen. One was a season-ticket holder and probably still is. He was forever telling me about Celtic. It was all he’d talk about.
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – JUNE 25: New Celtic Manager Ange Postecoglou alongside Chief Executive Dom McKay at Celtic Park, on June 25, 2021, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)
“I’m sure that Google got a helluva battering when my name came up, with people trying to figure out who I am. That’s OK, I understand it. But people will judge me from what I do from now on.
“I didn’t think a club like Celtic would look at me because of the things I have spoken about. So when the approach came, it was fantastic for me. I got the opportunity to manage and coach on this side of the world — but to get to do it at a club like this is fantastic.”
The hacks asked Ange, as you knew they would, about being second choice behind Eddie Howe who led Celtic down the garden path before bottling the opportunity, probably a decision he’s regretting already.
“You’re assuming I was second choice — I might have been fifth choice! It doesn’t really bother me,” was Postecoglou’s outstanding response. “What’s important is that I’ve been given the opportunity and the responsibility. Just that fact alone shows the people who made that decision have faith in me.
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – JUNE 25: New Celtic Manager Ange Postecoglou at Celtic Park, on June 25, 2021, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)
“And from then on it’s up to me to get working the way I want to and try to bring success to the club. If I didn’t want pressure I’d probably be doing a different occupation or have stayed coaching my local club.
“The fans are passionate and that’s what you look for. I don’t take finishing second too well either — I’m driven to be successful.
“I gather there was a mixed response when I was announced but 100 per cent of Celtic fans want me to be successful because nothing is more important to them. I just can’t wait to see them back in the stadium and my role is to provide a team they can be proud of and look forward to watching every week.”
Then the best bit, mentioned when asked about his first competitive match, the Champions League qualifier against FC Midtjylland on 20 July. “My priority is the Celtic supporters and how they feel about the team, and I think they’ll judge what they see, not just necessarily the result. I want this team playing a certain type of football that everyone talks about.
“Everything else outside of that, it doesn’t deter me from what I want to do. Whatever we deliver in that opening game, even if everything is great, I’ll still know there is more to come. Within that, it’s not going to be smooth — there’s going to be some bumps, for sure, and some real challenges.”
Photo: Andrew Milligan
The hacks asked about the 25 point gap between theRangers and Celtic last season, but never mentioned an entire series of refereeing and SFA decisions that went their way. Ange was given a brief introduction to that at the Fan Media Conference when that kind of discussion was heard for the first time ever at a Celtic Media Conference. It was heard by the referees. It was heard by the Compliance Officer and it was heard by the Scottish FA. It was also heard by theRangers. Check out the Celtic manager’s answer – there’s your message from yesterday.
“Again, and it’s me, but my brain is just not wired that way. I don’t think we’re in a race with one other team. From my perspective, what I’ve always done is that if I can get the team playing a certain way then we’ll be successful.
“If other clubs out there do something better than me and end up ahead of us then I’ll hold my hands up. But what I know is that wherever I’ve got my teams to play the football I know I want them to play, then success follows.”
