More from Ange Postecoglou’s Media Conference from earlier today. We’ve already covered the somewhat embarrassing question where the hack simply got his facts all wrong and we’ve also covered the Celtic manager’s thoughts looking back on that beautiful afternoon on Sunday when everything seemed to fall perfectly into place as his team put nine goals past a disheartened Dundee United and ultimately cost Jack Ross his job after just ten weeks in charge.
READ THIS…“It does go in the record books and that is something the whole group can be proud of,” Ange Postecoglou
Ange was asked if the mood in training has been sky high this week and has the bar has been set in terms of the team’s collective effort and performance that the Celtic manager has talked about previously.
“To be fair, we’ve only had one session and that was this morning and there was only half the squad here as it’s been a quick turnaround,” Ange replied. “We don’t have time to reflect on our stuff. As I’ve said before, every game is an opportunity to set a standard, set a marker and it’s not about trying to reach some sort of profession, it’s about trying to improve,” the Celtic manager said. And his players certainly look like they are enjoying themselves at training today, judging from the video the club released this afternoon.
“Our performance on Sunday, the quality of our goals and the way we went about things in terms of our focus and discipline were excellent,” Ange added. “There have been other games where we have been just as good and haven’t finished off our work but last weekend we did. That’s what we are striving for, constant improvement in our football and there are still different areas we can improve in to set us up for our games moving forward.”
On how the squad are injury-wise after the match at the weekend and if we can expect some changes for the League Cup tie in Dingwall, the Celtic manager said: Everyone pulled up fine from the weekend. Obviously, Joe (Hart) had quite a few stitches in his head and that was the main thing that came out of the game.
“Giako (Giorgos Giakoumakis) is back fit, and he trained today so we have got a fully fit squad,” Ange revealed.
“Yes, I’ll make some changes tomorrow, not sure how many, but it’s about putting out a team which I think will get to the levels of performance that I think we need to win in a difficult game. It’s a quick turnaround for Saturday as well.
“Ross County away is a difficult away day anyway as you get back pretty early in the hours of the next morning, so with all that in mind, we will make some changes tomorrow,” the manager explained. The League Cup was of course the first trophy his side won under his leadership and that remains a significant moment for the manager.
“I think the League Cup was significant for us, especially last year. We had a challenging start to the year and winning a trophy in the first few months added some real belief into the squad about the direction we are heading, and I think everyone involved in the football club could see some real progress. It was an important trophy to win but that’s the nature of this football club,” Ange said.
“Irrespective of my feelings toward a particular competition, the expectations are still the same and you have to try to win every game you play and every competition you’re in.
“That doesn’t change for us tomorrow night. It’s a challenging fixture, we know going to Ross County is a difficult test and they’re a hard team to play against but every team in cup competitions has potential pitfalls to fall into, so we need to be ready to be at our best.”
And wrapping things up for another Media Conference and indeed another transfer window Ange Postecoglou gave one last update at these media events before the window ‘slams shut’ at midnight on Thursday, and he’s certainly looking at remaining active in terms of players going out the door and maybe another one coming in.
“There are still possibilities and there’re a few things going on in the background in terms of outgoings and incoming,” Ange stated. “We may very well do nothing,or we very well do a couple of things.
“They’re a lot of things going on in the background and I guess we will all find out in the next 48 hours.”
