The Celtic Star yesterday asked Ange Postecoglou about the comparison between Japanese and Scottish football, in terms of the culture the way the games are reported and the standard of football in the two leagues. And we wanted to know if the Celtic manager could see a player for the Scottish Premiership being transferred to a club in Japan and being a success in the J-League.
Ange’s answer to our question – which starts at around 30 mins, 52 seconds on the video of the entire Celtic Fan Media conference from yesterday afternoon – is superb. He talks about the different cultures and mentions the fact that he wasn’t invited to people’s houses the way he has been here and on the reporting of the game, re reckons its more respectful in Japan and he gives a particular mention to ex-players who are now pundits in the Scottish game but clearly this is something that Ange is actually enjoying.
Here is Ange’s answer to The Celtic Star’s question…
“Some similarities, a lot of differences, a lot of cultural differences, just different countries. I lived there with my family for almost four years an we loved our time in Japan . It’s a different kind of culture, a different environment – the people very, very respectful and embraced us in Japan but different to here, I didn’t get invited to people’s houses in Japan when I met them but they were equally as welcoming in different ways.
“In terms of the football I enjoyed my experience in Japan. The technical level of the game is great, the crowds are great. We were averaging 35-40,000 pre-Covid at Yokohama. They get right into it, they sing their songs. Again, it’s different because in comparison their football clubs are maybe 30 years in existence, they don’t have the history, they don’t have the culture, they don’t have the stories that we’re talking about here. So there is a different feel to it, but it’s equally as passionate.
“The standard of football is very good, they’ve got some quality of both Japanese and foreigners that keep the standard high, it’s a bigger league, obviously there are 20 teams this year but it’s an 18 team league usually and very, very competitive for the most part.
“Yes, I could definitely see Scottish players – but they’d have to be the best Scottish players to go over there and make an impact — because the general level of Japanese players is very high so when they bring imports in they expect them to be of the highest possible quality. It’s not an easy league for foreigners to go into, to be fair. Aside from that I enjoyed my time.
“In the case of how it’s reported – there are a lot more pundits here, let me tell you. A lot of pundits who are ex-players of clubs so that’s very different to the way it’s reported in Japan and I guess for me it’s entertaining at the moment because it’s kind of new to me after the four years with the relatively reserved media back in Japan to what we’re getting here. But it’s all part of the fun and I’m enjoying it.
“As an experience for me it as priceless, It’s what I love about football, I love you can go to a different country and a different culture and they still love football as much as anyone else, as much as people here. I love that common thread of passion for this game is throughout the world.”
We’ll cover some of Ange’s other answers to Celtic Fan Media questions throughout the day. As mentioned above The Celtic Star’s question starts at around 30 mins 52 secs of this brilliant fan media conference…
Going forward two representatives of the Celtic Fan Media – selected on a rotating basis – will be invited to join the mainstream media guys (all of whom were excluded yesterday) at the regular pre and post match media conferences, therefore Celtic fan media will be able to ask questions that perhaps are more relevant and pertinent to how the support would like rather than what we’ve had to endure (and Ange has had to endure) previously.
It’s not been easy getting this to this stage but it’s a major breakthrough and if you listen to that video from yesterday surely you’ve going to accept it’s a step in the right direction for Celtic interacting directly with the supporters?
Japanese people in general don’t invite people to their houses…
I enjoyed listening to this, it is so much better for Celtic fans. Love Ange’s sincere and honest replies. I like his personal philosophy and his attitude to his players and the game as a whole. When I hear him speak he reminds me so much of Jock Stein. Oh, that he becomes as successful.🙂