Q: You have won another manager of the month award and you will credit your whole backroom team with this one again, won’t you?
Ange Postecoglou: “I don’t want people to think it is some sort of gimmick on my behalf. It is what we are about. People work hard every day, not just myself, and I think when you win an individual award you are very cognizant of the fact that you are part of a greater group. It is important that all the people who put in the hard work on a daily basis also get recognition. I think the award is reflective of how consistent we have been particularly since the break and that’s a credit to everyone involved.”
✊ 𝙒𝙀. 𝙉𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍. 𝙎𝙏𝙊𝙋. #CelticFC‘s Ange Postecoglou has been named the #cinchPrem Manager of the Month for April! 🏅🍀
Congratulations once again to the boss! 👏 pic.twitter.com/lg1inyuLR2
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) May 6, 2022
Q: You said it is all about performances is it important that your players do not get caught up with the ifs and buts of what can happen in the next few games?
Ange Postecoglou: “It is only natural I guess, as you are dealing with human beings whether that’s players, staff, supporters or whoever, everyone has a sense of expectation and I’m sure there is a lot of it where we just want to get it over the line. We have three games and the opportunity to put on some strong performances and create some memorable moments for ourselves.
“We always remind ourselves of why we are in this position in the first place. That is through focusing on our performance and respecting every opponent and trying to play our best football every game. That is why we are here and that shouldn’t change because we are in sight of the finish line.”
🗨️ “We want to finish strong. We want to play as well as we can in the last three games, starting tomorrow.”
𝙁𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 with Ange Postecoglou 🎙️
Watch now on YouTube ⤵️#CELHEA | #cinchPrem | #COYBIG🍀
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) May 6, 2022
Q: The Champions League income could boost the club by £40million will that allow you to do anything different or change targets at all now that the extra money is coming in and will it improve the chances of keeping Jota and Cameron Carter-Vickers?
Ange Postecoglou: “I guess from my perspective the planning doesn’t really change. My view was that we had to rebuild the squad this year and change things fairly drastically because they needed to change.
“It wasn’t like we had the option and the reality of it was that we lost a lot of players from last year and the team had been together for a while and got to the end of a cycle and we had to make those changes. This was the first stage of the build and irrespective of what we were doing next year in terms of competition we wanted to strengthen and that was always in the planning.
“That really hasn’t changed and we know the areas we need to strengthen on and off the field and we have identified we need to recruit players in and to get the squad to be stronger. I don’t think being in the Champions League changes that too much from my perspective.
“It may make us a more attractive proposition for players to want to come to our club and that might be an extra carrot that opens up another market for us. It is not like we go from the club we are to being a club that will spend at a different level, there are certain disciplines around that and my belief is that you have a plan and you try to stick to it irrespective of what comes your way and that has proved successful for us this year.
“If we want to replicate the success we have had in the transfer market next season then we have to identify the right type of player rather than looking for players in a different sort of price bracket.”
Q: Jota and Carter-Vickers – any update on them?
Ange Postecoglou: “Nothing has really changed. We are in discussions with them obviously and I have said all along with these kinds of things it is never a simple process. Both players have had unbelievable years for us and have been outstanding contributors and both are really happy here. Our intent is to try and keep them at our football club. With all these things you need a point where all parties agree and I am hopeful we will get to that point. At this stage, we are not quite there yet.”
