Ange Postecoglou reckons that his captain Callum McGregor showed great leadership at the end of the 6-0 thrashing of Dundee on Sunday but pulling his teammates together for a pretty unique full-time Huddle to tell them that the rewards at playing this type of football at this stadium will be enormous and that if they thought that it was a noisy playing in front of 25k supporters wait until they hear the Celtic Noise on. Thursday night…
“Callum is probably more aware than anybody just how important the supporters are,” the Celtic manager told Celtic TV. “He felt it was the right time to just let the players soak it in and understand what a special place it can be if we put in the effort.
“If the supporters see us put in the effort they will get right behind us, and if you can create those special nights and special memories moving forward, so it was timely of Callum to do that. It shows great leadership.”
The photo above incidentally was from the pre-match Huddle at Tynecastle last week, in case anyone is wondering.
Ange Postecoglou has been speaking to Celtic TV and this is currently available to subscribers only, and the Celtic manager was happy to pass all the credit for the stunning performance at the weekend to his players, rather than take any of the credit himself.
“To be fair, it’s the players who have done it, and credit to them,” Ange said. “We knew it was important, the first home league game, particularly after losing at Hearts. We wanted to give some hope I think more than anything else,” the Australian said.
Ange asked for more from his players ahead of the Dundee match and Bhoy did they deliver. “Yes, our supporters have missed being at the ground and supporting their club, but we wanted to give them a little bit more than that and I think the players did that. They gave them hope that there is something exciting around the corner, and hopefully we build on that.
“I’m not one to set expectations, because I’ve found in the past that sometimes you can exceed them, and you feel a little bit disappointed that your expectations weren’t higher to start with.
“I said before the game it was important to win, absolutely, because in the league you don’t want to lose too many games and lose ground. More importantly though for me was a really good performance of our football, and that’s what I was hoping for.
“From that perspective, it was everything I wanted us to be. Not because we won, but the manner in which we won, and the fact that right until the final whistle there was an intent there to continue to play our football.
“It’s credit to the players that they were willing to believe and invest in it, and we had a good outcome. I thought Sunday was our first real commitment to something, to an idea, but we’ve got a long way to go to get to the consistent levels we need to.”
The one signing so far that has Postecoglou’s own personal stamp all over it it Japanese striker Kyogo Furuhashi and what a home debut he enjoyed, instantly becoming a huge favourite among the Celtic support. “It’s important not just for him, but I’ve said to the players, that’s the expectations of our fans,” Postecoglou said.
“Of course they love the goals and the exciting things, but they want to know you’re putting in a shift, because they do on a daily basis and spend their hard-earned on getting a season ticket to see them play,” said the manager that The Celtic Star calls ‘The Australian Stein’.
“They want to see the people representing them put in a shift as well, and it was important. I knew Kyogo has that anyway, he works hard, but I think for me the most pleasing thing was that all the players bought into that.
“They were willing to do the hard work and show the supporters they were going to give everything right to the final whistle.
“We could have relaxed in the last 10 or 15 minutes, but even after we scored the sixth we had a chance to score another one, and I think that’s important, that the players understand that is what the fans want to see.”
You really won’t want to miss this glorious wee clip…
😂😂😂 He’s actually greeting on the radio!
Brilliant.
Football’s back baby!
pic.twitter.com/1dlauQPtBL— 20 Minute Tims (@20MinuteTims) August 11, 2021
