The Celtic Fan Media questions at yesterday’s Media Conference with Ange Postecoglou are featured below. These questions come at the end of the pre-match media events and after the Celtic manager has had to handle the efforts of the mainstream media hacks to try to trip him up, get a headline or give the opposition something to ‘hang on their dressing room door’ – you’d think that they’d have thrown the towel in by now but they are nothing if not persistent.
Yesterday’s belter was to try to bring the brilliant, amazing, wonderful European run by theRangers into the conversation, with Ange finishing off with a cheeky smile as he reminded them of the big cup that was in the Celtic trophy room!
As the season reaches the latter stages, Celtic will have to review the impact of the new working relationship with the Celtic fan media and decide if this is to continue. The club were nervous about this yet decided to give it a go. It’s hard to see any reason whatsoever for them not to regard it as an overwhelming success and certainly the support seems to appreciate getting more access directly to their won media outlets whether that’s on sites like The Celtic Star and others or on podcasts, fanzines and even TV channels on You Tube.
That’s a matter though for another day. Here’s how the conversation went yesterday when representatives of The Celtic Fan Media spoke to Ange Postecoglou…
Celtic Fan Media: You’ve suggested that you use that bit of a hands-off approach to the squad away from the training and matchday pitch, allowing them to have their own space. The question is how do you then gauge the feeling in the camp over a week before a game like this? Calming nerves that need to be calmed, firing people up that need to be reminded of the importance? Is that something that you would kind of have relayed back to you by the captain or the backroom staff?
Ange Postecoglou: “It’s a little bit of everything. I keep my distance but things tend to make it through my door anyway, mate. One way or another. I’ve been around for a while and you kind of get a sense of these things.
“But I’m just one person in a machine and, yes, I’m sort of the frontman but there’s so many members of staff and the players themselves who have constant conversations, constant dialogue. And if anything’s particularly alarming in any way, it gets brought to my attention. So it’s a little bit of everything.
“And whilst it’s not like I’m sitting in a separate building, we’re all in the same building, I still bump into them in corridors and they still have to face me during mealtime. So I still get a sense of how everyone is. It’s just as a general rule, I’m not in the players’ faces or the staff’s faces all the time. It’s just not my nature.”
Celtic Fan Media: Looking forward to Sunday, you’re a guy that very much lives in the present moment. When does your mindset flip over to thinking of phase two – is it trophy-in-hand or after a break in the summer?
Ange Postecoglou: “No, it’s constant. So it kind of runs parallell. I’ve been around for a while so I’m pretty good at making sure that I know where the priorities lie and the priorities at this present time, in terms of my responsibilities, lie in what happens on Sunday.
“But parallel to that we’re already working on next year, we’re already working on making sure that both on and off the field we’re going to be stronger than we are this year. We have to be, irrespective of the outcomes of this year. We need to be a better team, a stronger team. The environment needs to be even better than what it was this year.
“So whatever standards we’ve set, we need to improve on and increase next year. That has to happen. So for that to happen, we need to start the planning now. I’m in constant dialogue with the club and we know what we need to do.
“Irrespective of what happens over the next two or three weeks, we know the areas we need to improve in and the areas we need to sort of make adjustments to on and off the park and I want to make sure when it comes to the first day of pre-season next year that all those things are already in place.
“So they’re running parallel and, for me, it’s equal importance but usually that’s done probably after we’ve dealt with the matter at hand – the matter at hand now is the game on Sunday. So for most of today that will be my focus and then when everyone goes home I’ll kind of make sure we continue with our planning for next year.”
Celtic Fan Media: The Japanese players have really been taken to the support’s hearts. They play with a sense of joy, they’re archetypal Celtic players in many ways and they’re really celebrated in the fanbase. What’s that been like for you, seeing them become Celtic heroes?
Ange Postecoglou: “Yeah. They’ve done well. Again, let’s not just call them ‘Japanese players’ because I think that’s just unfair to them. They’re all very, very different guys and very, very different sort of different types of players.
“The one thing about it is they have all embraced the football club and the supporters. They’ve loved every minute of it and they give everything when they’re out there, like a lot of players we bought. We try and target that kind of player.
“And the one thing you know about our support is that irrespective of how players perform if they see that they’re given everything on the day they warm to them. I think Kyogo when he first came was just really determined to make an impact straight away. This was his chance to make his mark in Europe and make his mark in Europe at a big club and he wasn’t going to let that go.
“Daizen was a bit different. He sort of had a crack at Europe and he came back as a different kind of player and really determined to make a mark for himself. Reo [has had two years of professional football and he’s determined to reach the very top of the game. He came here with the determination to make an impact at the club. Ideguchi obviously hasn’t had much of an opportunity which has been difficult for him – and for me, because I really think he will be a strong contributor for us when he gets an opportunity, it’s just the way the games have gone.
“But, you know, I think for all for them, the key is they’ve come into the environment and the playing group needs to take a lot of credit for that into a dressing room where they’ve been really embraced. It’s hard when you’re coming from the other side of the world, from a different culture and not speaking the language.
“But all four boys are working really hard to understand Scottish, thinking that English was the first language when they first came here. They’ve embraced all of it and I think you can see from the supporters that, with all our new signings, they’re the kind of players that have an attitude and a character that our supporters want to see irrespective of their playing ability.”
Celtic Fan Media: As we reach the end of the season, what’s been a personal high point for you that you could talk about a game that’s you’ve seen the team play in a way that has made you feel quite proud that you can achieve your vision?
Ange Postecoglou: “As I just said before, we’re trying to win a championship. We’re trying to build for next year. My time for reflection is probably still a little bit away. I’m not that sort. It’s just not my nature. I’m always thinking that the best moment is ahead, hopefully.
“But for me, the most significant moment was the day I got appointed. That was because, for a person like me who’s kind of had a long career but also understood that for this door to open, something unique would have to happen, then all I could ever ask for from anybody was an opportunity and the fact that people at this football club gave me that opportunity was the most significant and best moment because that then allows me to do everything else I’ve done over the last eight or nine months.”
