“My gut tells me it’s probably a good time for the break,” Ange Postecoglou

Ange Postecoglou spoke to the media today ahead of tomorrow night’s trip to Fir Park to take on Motherwell in the penultimate Scottish Premiership match ahead of the extended break for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

 Photo Andrew Milligan

The Celtic manager reported on his injury situation with club captain Callum McGregor being joined on the treatment table by James McCarthy who pulled a hamstring in training a few days ago. Postecoglou describes this as ‘fairly significant’ and estimates that midfielder will be sidelined to at least after the World Cup.

Photo: Andrew Milligan

Asked if this break is useful as it could allow Celtic to plan for the winter transfer window, Ange responded by saying ‘not really’ and confirming the that task had already been taken care of, explaining the role that Mark Lawwell and his team have already done, with him getting involved at the latter stages after appropriate candidates had been identified and selected as potential signings for the manager to review.

“A couple of weeks ago, we sort of did our planning. The bulk of the work’s been done,” Ange confirmed. “What this time gives me is a little bit of opportunity just to plan for the rest of this year and probably the next summer window.”

 Photo Andrew Milligan

Before all that there are the two games against Motherwell tomorrow night and Ross County at the weekend and the Celtic manager is looking for a strong finish to a tough run of games over the five or six weeks before going into the break.

“We need to get through the next two games nice and strong,” Ange said. “We’ve had a really solid block of games. Champions League results aside our performances have been really strong through that and our league form’s been excellent.”

Ange Postecoglou Real Madrid v Celtic FC, Champions League, Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, 2 Nov 2022 Photo Bagu Blanco Pressinphoto/Shutterstock

The Celtic manager did reference the defeat at St Mirren in September reminding everyone that that day his team did not perform at anywhere near the standards expected.

“My gut tells me it’s probably a good time for the break because we’ve had just so much football in a short space of time. As much as the players have got through this period, there’s always a tipping point – not just physically but mentally.”

You can listen to Ange Postecoglou’s media conference below…

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About Author

The Celtic Star founder and editor, who has edited numerous Celtic books over the past decade or so including several from Lisbon Lions, Willie Wallace, Tommy Gemmell and Jim Craig. Earliest Celtic memories include a win over East Fife at Celtic Park and the 4-1 League Cup loss to Partick Thistle as a 6 year old. Best game? Easy 4-2, 1979 when Ten Men Won the League. Email editor@thecelticstar.co.uk

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