Ange Postecoglou – Crash: ‘Biggest Budget’…Bang: ‘Biggest Fanbase’…Wallop: ‘Biggest Club’

By yesterday ‘Lucky’ Ange Postecoglou had had enough of the jealous digs from managers of smaller clubs within the Scottish Premiership who are green with envy at the spending power that the Australian has at his disposal at Celtic.

It all started with Mick Beale, now manager at the latest Ibrox club that today celebrates the 8th anniversary of their first ever meeting with Celtic, in the 2015 league Cup semi-final. Seem to remember that they even brought a special release t-shirt to celebrate their first opportunity to play with the big Bhoys in a Glasgow Derby, bless them.

Livingston manager David Martindale. Photo Jane Barlow

Then Livingston boss David Martindale added his tuppence worth arguing somewhat bizarrely that on a points per pounds spent basis his team would be top of the league, therefore also looking down on theRangers. Ange saw the funny side of that at his pre-match media conference for broadcast and fan media and went further while speaking to the written mainstream press.

Starting with the former Ange replied when asked if he admired the job Martindale has done given the Livingston boss has the lowest budget in the Scottish Premiership.

“I think he tells us that on a weekly basis doesn’t he? There is no secret there. That is a nice way of him down playing their prospects and he maybe pumping himself up a little bit and there is nothing wrong with that.

“He is doing a great job. It just goes to show that he has a clear idea of the way he wants his team to play and he backs his players. You can tell every game they are up for the contest and they are well drilled and well disciplined and it is largely why they are in the position they are in.

“I have got admiration for him and like I said before I have admiration for every manager. I know how tough the role is irrespective of where you are working. There are always challenges there and I have every respect for everyone that is in that role.

“As for Livingston and where they are in the table then you can only admire the work that he and everyone at that football club has done including the players,” the Celtic manager said. You can watch that exchange and the rest of Ange’s media conference below, with the Celtic fan media questions coming at the end.

The highlight of the exchanges in this area of questioning came during  his media duties with the mainstream written press – Celtic can distinguish between the different needs of the mainstream broadcast and written press but don’t seem to appreciate that there are similar differences within the various fan media outlets which includes sites like The Celtic Star as well as broadcast channels like Celtic Fans TV and numerous podcasts. Maybe that stage two of the integration of Celtic fan media into the club’s media mix, it’s crazy that to recall that the club feared this just a few years ago.

Lucky they’ve got Ange though because there’s nothing that happens in these conferences that he can’t handle and yesterday he addressed the biggest budget digs head on. There will be anger on the zombie forums after this, which is reported in the mainstream media today including Scottish Sun.

Ange Postecoglou during the Cinch Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Motherwell at Celtic Park on May 14, 2022 (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

“I don’t mind people saying we have the biggest budget because we have the biggest fanbase and we are the biggest club. People forget that money is on the back of supporters who don’t have a lot of money and choose to spend a significant portion of it on this football club.

“My role is not to get their money and stick it in the bank. It’s to get their money and reinvest it in the thing they love. That’s my responsibility, why we do what we do. If people are saying we are the biggest club in the land then I don’t think that’s something we need to be embarrassed about.

“That’s who we are. I guess my role in that is to maximise that. Just having the money and not spending it wisely would have people saying, ‘they have the biggest budget but they waste it’. If people are saying we have the biggest budget and are spending it well then I’m not sure they’re achieving their goal in saying we have some unfair advantage.”

About Author

The Celtic Star founder and editor, who has edited numerous Celtic books over the past decade or so including several from Lisbon Lions, Willie Wallace, Tommy Gemmell and Jim Craig. Earliest Celtic memories include a win over East Fife at Celtic Park and the 4-1 League Cup loss to Partick Thistle as a 6 year old. Best game? Easy 4-2, 1979 when Ten Men Won the League. Email editor@thecelticstar.co.uk

1 Comment

  1. Oddly for years when RFC enticed players to Ibrox by paying them off book the mantra then was “the games are won on the pitch” and “everything is equal on the park”.
    What a strange world we live in.