Ange Postecoglou takes his Celtic side into yet another League Cup Final tomorrow at Hampden Park. After defeating Hibernian last season just before Christmas, to send us on our way to grabbing the Scottish Premiership title back at the first time of asking, we now face our fierce rivals theRangers in the ultimate showdown in Scottish football.
There has been a lot of talk and a considerable amount of bluster this last while from the other mob (see what I did there?), and this week it has reached untenable levels in the mainstream media – with rival players coming out and spouting nonsense about being a ‘far better team’ than Ange’s trusted squad of winners.
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou arrives prior to the Cinch Scottish Premiership match between Celtic FC and Aberdeen FC at on February 18, 2023. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
All that will cease to be on Sunday afternoon at 3pm Celtic Park time, as the dress rehearsal is over and we take to the main stage for an afternoon of epic theatre. The game will no doubt be fraught at times, as cup game always tend to be, so we will All sit definitely need to be vigilant and diligent in our play and give nothing to our rivals like the last time at Ibrox which let them back into a game we had utter control and dominance over.
We contrived that day on 2 January to shoot ourselves in the foot after killing any momentum and hope the Ibrox side had. But therein lay the problem: we didn’t kill it stone dead and our complacency let them away with murder on the day and now has the media and their players, manager, and fanbase all jumped up and thinking Celtic are there for the taking this weekend.
Ange Postecoglou knows all too well how momentum during a match can change the outcome dramatically and bore witness to the total unnecessary calamity that we brought upon ourselves in the cinch Premiership League fixture that day at the beginning of the New Year. And so in this spirit, he has urged discipline from his men when they do their stuff in the heat and fever of Glasgow Derby Day battle tomorrow.
As reported by Herald Sport, the Celtic most demanded cool heads in the Viaplay League Cup Final: “All the teams I’ve coached, I want them to be super competitive,” said Postecoglou. “But I don’t believe super competitive means that you should be ill-disciplined in that. All the teams I’ve coached, I’ve tried to instil in them a real strong will and desire to be the best within the confines of the laws of the game. I just don’t see any reason to go outside of that.
Daizen Maeda celebrates after scoring the team’s first goal with teammates during the Viaplay Cup Semi-final match between Celtic and Kilmarnock at Hampden on January 14, 2023. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
“That’s not always going to be the case. Sometimes players will get yellow or red cards inadvertently for trying to do the right thing. But stuff like off the ball stuff and that, I’ve just never been a fan of. I’ve never seen it as part of trying to be successful. It’s certainly not something I try to encourage. Most of my teams, we’ve always had a good disciplinary record because of that. It’s not stuff that I buy into. I think if you want to show you’re courageous or strong then go and win the ball. That’ll do me.”
We couldn’t agree more, Ange!
Paul Gillespie
