Something needs to give here. It appears that Ange Postecoglou has had more than enough of the weekly mainstream media questions that appear to be getting on his nerves more which each passing media conference. Last week John Kennedy stepped in and as he’s not been on these duties much since Ange arrived at the club, he was refreshed and able to handle the mundane questions perfectly well.
Yesterday Ange was perhaps talking to himself when he said he should have taken an extra week off.
Yet look at or listen to the four questions at the end which came from the Celtic Fan Media, who are rotated on these media conferences and whose questions come at the end. Ange is much more willing to engage with these guys from the Celtic Fan Media and this is generally the case, week in week out.
Maybe it’s because the questions are more focused on Celtic, the team, the players, the tactic, the training and so on, things that Ange wants to talk about because that is exactly what’s on his radar on a daily basis as manager of Celtic?
So maybe it’s time to separate the mainstream broadcast (TV and radio) media from the Celtic Fan Media perhaps by allowing one group to attend the media conference one week and the other the next. That would at least allow everyone interested in this to see what works and what doesn’t as it’s clear that the current format is clearly not working for the Celtic manager.
Another solution could be to rotate the duties more with John Kennedy and Ange taking turns on this on a more regular basis. Or perhaps one could talk to the mainstream media one week while the other deals with fan media and then rotate from there?
For now though compare and contrast what happened yesterday, we have separated the mainstream (broadcast) media questions from the Celtic Fan Media questions and they are at the end. Make your own minds up and please add your thoughts on this to the comments section below….
ANGE POSTECOGLOU ANSWERING THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA QUESTIONS YESTERDAY AFTERNOON AHEAD OF TODAY’S GAME AGAINST ABERDEEN….
Ange Postecoglou on Kyogo: “I’ll cover the whole thing. Injury wise Kyogo [Furuhashi] is fine. He trained this week and had a session on Thursday and Friday. He is good to go. The only one from last week is David Turnbull who got a bit of a knock. He’ll miss the Aberdeen game. That’s it. Everyone else is okay.”
Ange Postecoglou on being surprised or interested in Mick Beale’s comments on it being too hard to catch Celtic in the Scottish Premiership this season: “Neither mate. I haven’t heard the comments. I think your original point is probably accurate. I don’t pay any interest to it.”
Ange Postecoglou on facing manageress Aberdeen: “I think it is always a challenge when you are meeting a team with a new manager. Barry Robson has had a couple of games now. In the first game, they had a man sent off really early and they got a good result and a good performance in their last game. Then they had the weekend off so he has had a chance to work with the team. We have got to be ready for that. We know at their best they are a very good side and have some good individual players who can hurt you, particularly in the attacking sense. At the same time, our form has been pretty good, especially at home for a while now. If we start the game well and play to our tempo then we will be hard to stop.”
Ange Postecoglou on game at a time or maybe thinking about next weekend’s League Cup Final against theRangers: “You can’t have your mind on the final when you have a game on Saturday because our most important game is the next one. We want to get three points and continue our strong league form. We want to make sure that we finish the season really strong and stronger than we started and so far we have done that. Post-break we have been really good and stronger than we were in the first part of the year and we want to continue that. Our focus is certainly on Aberdeen.”
Ange Postecoglou on any boost from Kyogo’s return with big games coming up: “I think I said after the St Mirren game I was pretty relaxed about it. He had a pretty similar one last year and last year he missed one session and played the next game. It wasn’t anything that we were overly concerned about. From our perspective, if he wasn’t right, he wasn’t right. We move on and deal with it. He missed a session on Tuesday and he has trained the last few days so there are no issues.”
Ange Postecoglou on what Celtic’s healthy financial results means for the football department: “I’m not one to get too excited about balance sheets. My responsibility is how we invest our hard-earned funds that are brought to this club by our supporters and the people who back us. That’s my role and my basic accounting knowledge also makes me understand that they are interim results. I am in constant dialogue with Michael [Nicholson] and Chris McKay and I am well aware of the position the club is in. I am well aware of the parameters that I work within. My role within that is to make sure that whatever we use that money for whether that be in the squad or infrastructure or staffing or resourcing all those kinds of things we spend it wisely. That’s where the importance of my role comes into it.”
Ange Postecoglou on whether he expects anything different from Aberdeen given their current situation: “I don’t think having somebody in charge on an interim basis is the issue. With every new manager whether they are interim or permanent there is always a change. Every manager does things a little bit differently. They have only had a couple of games with Barry and the first one they had a man sent off so you discount that from an analysis perspective and all you have to work off is one game and they’ve had a couple of weeks to work on things. We prepare the same way for every team and we prepare for them to be at their best. We prepare for all possibilities in terms of the way they are likely to play and the way they are likely to set up. The basic foundation of that is that we always reflect on it is important that we concentrate on our football and make sure we are really strong in the principles that we have because when we do that irrespective of what the opposition brings we are a hard team to stop.”
Ange Postecoglou on the Scottish Cup quarter final draw where Celtic are away to Hearts: “It is a quarter-final of the cup against a good team away from home and I haven’t given that another moment thought since the draw was made.”
Ange Postecoglou on what extra he can tell us about the reported summer tour to Japan: “No not really. I am sort of out of those discussions. I come into it when there is actually something to talk about. We had a really good tour of Australia. We are now looking at the planning for the summer break and there are a couple of things in play. Is it a part of the world I would love us to go to? Absolutely because I have spent time there. I have brought quite a few players from that side of the world. In terms of where the club is at other people are in charge of those discussions and I only get involved if we get to the stage where we have got to plan things.”
Ange Postecoglou on the Green Brigade’s plans to enlarge the standing section at Celtic Park: “That is something that I have given no thought to be fair. I pride myself on trying to be as knowledgeable as I can and across as many areas as I can but the Green Brigade’s thoughts are not at the forefront of my mind right now. I love the atmosphere at Celtic Park and I am not alone in that. I think anyone who plays there knows it is a fantastic experience and atmosphere and that is generated by our supporters and nobody else. It is a credit to them I love being involved in the football club but beyond that whatever each individual or groups want to do with that is beyond me.”
Ange Postecoglou on David Martindale’s comments that theRangers are now on a par with Celtic: “What’s clear is I should have taken another week off, to be fair. I do not sit there listening to other managers’ press conferences. There are 11 other managers in the league. If you think I sit there listening to what they have to say about… ask me about the game tomorrow or training. But asking me about what another manager said about another game altogether is just not on my radar. I have no idea why I would need to comment on that.”
ANGE POSTECOGLOU ANSWERING THE CELTIC FAN MEDIA QUESTIONS YESTERDAY AFTERNOON AHEAD OF TODAY’S GAME AGAINST ABERDEEN….
Ange Postecoglou on his January signings: “We got them in fairly early which was good. Alistair [Johnston] has already made a meaningful contribution which is good. Oh [Hyeon-gyu] is now getting some game time. Tomoki Iwata and Yuki Kobayashi are training really well. I have not been able to give them significant game time at the moment. I have no doubt they will get some significant game time between now and the end of the season, given their training. They are also in good physical condition, which means if they get an opportunity then they are good to go. We are in a good period right now in terms of not having many injuries but I am in no doubt that over the next two or three weeks, we will have to change things up. Those guys should then get some game time.”
Ange Postecoglou on whether the squad is now at it’s strongest since he arrived at Celtic: “I think I said that coming out of the window, the squad was in its healthiest state since I arrived. I am happy with the squad and I think we have a strong squad that will hopefully be resilient unless something drastic happens with injuries. I think you have seen with our performances that whether it is players coming on or starting and they are contributing at a high level. We are coming up to a time of the season where every game is of consequence and everyone is contributing. We are in good shape.
Ange Postecoglou on his side scoring 40 goals in the last 13 games, and what he puts that down to: “A number of things. The break gave us a good chance to recharge and there is no doubt we benefitted from the performances of the players at the World Cup. The guys who were there have been real key contributors. Those things have helped. Our football is a lot stronger than at the start of the season. Not only are we scoring goals but we are also minimising the opposition’s threat against us. That has probably been the biggest change since the break. We are scoring more goals and have been more solid defensively. Our pressing and counter-pressing has allowed to go on with that framework and score goals. In a game like last week, it comes down to the mentality of the lads. A lot of people talk about the goals that get us results. Last week we scored twice after 90 minutes. We did not have to as it was dead and buried. When that is our mindset it helps us achieve our goals.”
Ange Postecoglou on whether it’s satisfying seeing goal threats coming from all over the pitch: “It is. Scoring the volume of goals we do, if you only have one sort of avenue then the opposition can set up to stop you if those avenues are of a limited nature. I think people have seen us score from multiple places including set pieces which people do not seem to mention we are number one in. All these things help and we are able to overcome teams. We are starting games well and finishing games well which is helping us to assert our dominance. In the big games that is going to be a positive thing for us.”
GLASGOW DERBY UNDER THE LIGHTS ON FRIDAY 24 FEBRUARY, KICK-OFF 7PM….CELTIC V theRangers
Don’t forget there’s some Friday Night Football under the lights this coming Friday when Fran Alonso’s title challenging Celtic side take on theRangers at the Excelsior Stadium in Airdrie with the match only open to Celtic supporters. Celtic are a point ahead of theRangers at the moment and three behind Glasgow City who we play a week on Sunday, also over at Airdrie. A win against theRangers takes Celtic to the top of the league and a win the following Sunday will really put Celtic in the driving seat for our first ever SWPL1 Title. Get along and support the team, for full ticket details click below…COYGIG!
