Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic – Devastating potential and the potential to be devastating

Celtic under the stewardship of our ‘grandfather figure silverback’ Ange Postecoglou brings both sheer excitement and heart palpitation inducing nerves in almost equal measure.

The simple footballing philosophy of our head honcho ‘Ange bear’, is that if you genuinely want to stand a chance of winning against any opposition then the only most efficient tactic available, or ‘META’, is persistent attacking football.

Most teams prefer to go down the well-trodden path of doing WHAT is required WHEN it is required and hoping that your players will have sufficient ability, motivation and experience to ‘raise their game’ when called upon.

While this allows a club to operate with reasonable efficiency and carries very little risk of embarrassment, or fan/customer revolt, the problem with this approach is that ‘raising your game’ is all well and good and WILL carry a reasonably high percentage success rate when you are matched with a team of lower, similar or slightly higher technical ability and experience.

However, when Celtic or ‘the other lot’ step out of their so called ‘goldfish bowl’ and into the arena of teams with such pedigree and technical ability as Real Madrid, Barcelona and the mighty FC Midtjylland or Malmo, then the percentage success rate drops dramatically, and is in effect akin to placing a bet on a roulette table or the addictive cash sapping digital equivalents available online or squeezed into every bookmaker strewn across our desolate high streets.

Persistent attacking football is indeed ‘high risk’, at least in the short to medium term, while it is being implemented and embedded into the fabric of a club, and with it will carry a plethora of muscle tissue related injuries and early tiring performances while the team carries the physical and mental pressures associated with the implementation and execution of such a philosophy.

: Giorgos Giakoumakis of Celtic (C) celebrates with teammates after scoring their team’s second goal during the Cinch Scottish Premiership match between Heart of Midlothian and Celtic FC at on January 26, 2022 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

In my opinion the benefits can potentially outweigh the risks. If you can create a positive, well organised and driven environment with the correct type and standard of player in the correct position pressing high and performing attacking manoeuvres from the very start to finish, then you create a situation where the tables are turned and your opposition have to deal with pressure on a constant basis, and if we score early enough or provide more than a few near misses, then we become ‘a genuine threat’ that will have every chance in those situations of either being soundly beaten, or conversely outscoring the opposition and winning by playing confident and exciting football against ANY opposition.

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – JANUARY 17: Daizen Maeda of Celtic celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Cinch Scottish Premiership match between Celtic FC and Hibernian FC at on January 17, 2022 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

In order to fulfil the requirements of this persistent approach a club will need to meet the following criteria…

  • Strong leadership that both players and supporters will buy into.
  • Square pegs in square holes – Every type of player will have to have fit into the system with very little margin of error. Put simply you either perform and develop at the pace required or you will be replaced and moved on.
  • Full transfer trust at the board level – The board need to support and execute transfers with the same speed and efficiency levels as their footballer counterparts.
  • Extensive squad depth – High pressing, high energy, attacking football carries risks of injury and fatigue, at least in the early stages of implementation, and requires players that do similar jobs to each other, so that any transition or substitution is relatively seamless to keep confidence levels high.
  • Sports science, scouting and youth structure synchronisation – injury prevention and recovery along with fitness/performance levels need to be maximised. The system being played requires a very
  • Specific skill set per position – This needs to be as consistent in player transition as possible and requires the most efficient and cost-effective scouting and information gathering available. All youth sides need to be matched with the same system and positional demands as the senior team to ensure a more seamless promotion pathway for our younger development talents.
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – JANUARY 17: Josip Juranovic of Celtic celebrates after scoring from the penalty spot during the Cinch Scottish Premiership match between Celtic FC and Hibernian FC at on January 17, 2022 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Celtic as a club is making strides in EVERY one of these departments and this fills me with an optimism that I have not felt since the last time I played the wonderful time sapping computer game that is ‘Football Manager’ – or ‘Champ man’ for all the auld yins like myself! – where in this digital fantasy football world, you get to play soccer ball the way it should be played and get the players in that have the stats you require within your transfer budget, with minimal hassle and have unrealistically high success rates and trophy counts while you’re at it.

It is a great time to be a Celtic fan just now. We appear to be at the beginning of a journey that might just (whisper it) end up being a bit of a football revolution in terms of ‘how successful can a relatively smaller team in European terms actually become?’ And for the answers we will just have to wait and see what happens, but in the meantime, we will unfortunately have to endure nervy moments, dodgy passes and potentially fantastic European results being snatched away in the last ten minutes in the name of consistency and process.

Goalscorer Kyogo Furuhashi, Celtic Manager Angelos Postecoglou and captain Callum McGregor of Celtic celebrate with the trophy

Sit back relax and try to enjoy the ride.

Hail Hail.

Graeme (not ‘Souness’ and definitely not ‘Sharp’)

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. Why have we wasted money on Mccarthy, starfelt and giakoumaki who are all slow as carthorses. We still need a massive overhaul of our scouting system.