The former Celtic captain Jackie McNamara is convinced that Ange Postecoglou is focussed on re-establishing Celtic as a Champions League outfit and will therefore remain at Celtic Park for the long term rather than have his heard turned by the next number of Premier League enquiries that are likely to come his way, the latest of course being the current vacancy at relegation candidates Leicester City who this week sacked the former Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers.
Jackie McNamara may well have a point and with a dozen managers already losing their jobs this season in the English Premier league it is a cut-throat, short term gig that most likely awaits managers talking their chances for a crack at the richest league in the world.
Celtic may not have the wealth due to the difference in television money received but the Hoops do have plenty going for them in terms or retaining our highly sought-after manager including, crucially the likely participation in the Champions League on a consistent basis, and according to McNamara that’s what will keep Ange Postecoglou at Celtic.
“I think Ange will want to be better in Europe. He’ll want to go into the Champions League and make an impact and do well on that stage,” the former Celtic defender said, as reported by Daily Record. “I thought they were excellent in some of the games this year for 60 minutes. When you get chances at that level you need to take them.
“He’s been linked with a lot of jobs but he will be. His stock is very high and people have looked at how he’s turned it around at Celtic. There’s been a huge turnaround at the club in terms of players but the style and identity is there.
“You can only see them getting better and stronger. Ange has been mentioned with a lot of jobs and I’m sure the interest has been a lot stronger in some of them than we know about. He hasn’t gone and Celtic fans will be hoping that stays the case for a long time because he’s been excellent.”
McNamara also looked ahead to the Glasgow Derby match at Celtic Park on Saturday where 60,000 Celtic supporters will get the chance to enjoy Ellie Dixon performing live ahead of the Scottish Premiership fixture where a win would see Celtic move 12 points clear of theRangers and effectively shatter their remaining faint hopes of putting up a title challenge against a relentless Celtic.
Jackie Mac though realises that there can always be a slip-up or an upset in football and pointed to the 2-0 defeat Celtic suffered in the league last September at St Mirren as an example of how things can go wrong if the players aren’t at it on the day.
“There’s always the odd game, You saw the one Celtic lost at St Mirren earlier in the season. You need everyone to be on it every week. But Celtic are in good form. Even the players who having been starting have stepped in and others haven’t been missed.
“It’s really healthy having such a strong squad. I think the biggest thing is he’s changed the mentality. It’s obviously strong. He’s getting the most out of his players. With Celtic, there are no surprises in terms of how they go about it. They are not going to change to play them.
“Looking at it, you’d think (the)Rangers will try to stop Celtic in the match. The only uncertain bits is the midfield area in terms of who might come back in for Celtic. Celtic have got different options in different areas for goals,” McNamara said.
“In the Viaplay Cup Final at Hampden, I thought Celtic were comfortable enough in the first half. I know people were surprised by his Beale’s selection in midfield. His new players, Nicolas Raskin and Todd Cantwell, he didn’t start them. You could see that he maybe tried to stay in the game in terms of the midfield and overloading it with Glen Kamara and John Lundstram.
“It will be interesting to see what he does this weekend in terms of his starting 11. I wouldn’t be surprised if they went to a back three.”
