Former Celtic striker turned ‘pundit’ Charlie Nicholas has been explaining today that he loves to watch what Ange Postecoglou is trying to create at Celtic. In an interview full of adulation he can’t compliment Ange and Celtic enough. Right, hold on a minute. Who are you and what have you done with the actual Charlie Nicholas?
Only as far back as the end of September Charlie was publicly spouting that Ange Postecoglou was the new Ronny Delia. Yes, he actually said that. He claimed Ange came in not realising how big Celtic are. He advised him that it’s not about style at Celtic, it’s about winning no matter what. According to Nicholas, Celtic were in ‘meltdown’ and Ange was ‘on the edge’. As I say this was less than two months ago. Don’t believe me? Check it out, we reported on this here.
Now though Charlie has a totally new perspective on both Ange and Celtic, and it couldn’t be any further from what he thought just six weeks ago. Ange is the new Tommy Burns. It’s the best feeling he’s had watching Celtic in a while. People say Ange has no Plan B? Charlie doesn’t care because they look great.
Honestly some of the nonsense this man comes out with is staggering. It’s like there is no middle ground with him where he actually studies the situation in front of him, it’s just constant hyperbole. Maybe this is his tactic to remain relevant?
Anyway here is his latest musings as reported by Football Scotland: “I really like what Ange is trying to do. He’s building in a Tommy Burns style, if you like. It’s a front-foot approach with great energy to it.
“People sometimes say he doesn’t really have a Plan B. I don’t care. I didn’t care about that when Brendan Rodgers was the manager either. I just love watching what Ange is trying to create. This is the best feeling I’ve had watching Celtic for a while.
“I know there’s still problems in defence but you feel as if Celtic are coming back now. I thought it would maybe take six to eight months to get going and then you wonder if the manager will get that time from the fans but I think the fans are all enjoying it.
“I think he’s quite a bit ahead of schedule, certainly in relation to what I was expecting. Some people will debate that because I know they’re still second in the league and four points behind Rangers. But I just look at his team and think: ‘Yes, I like this a great deal’.
“Yes, there will be problems at the back along the way, but tell me a Celtic team that didn’t make mistakes. There have been very few that didn’t.
“There’s an energy and drive about them. They want to please the fans, and that’s the Celtic way. I was brought up with that and that’s why I’m enjoying it.”
Conall McGinty
