Postecoglou wants ‘extremely talented’ Tom Rogic at heart of his team

Ange Postecoglou has said that he is looking forward to reuniting with Tom Rogic at Celtic. The 55-year-old was unveiled as Celtic boss yesterday and was asked if Rogic would fit into his team after a difficult 18 months with Celtic.

Postecoglou told the media conference that he will be looking to get Rogic fit and back to his sublime best ahead of the new season.

“Obviously I know Tommy very well and I had him in the national team when I was national team manager.

“He’s an extremely talented player and he’s one of those players I think people are happy to pay to watch, because he can turn some ordinary moments into something special.

“My understanding is he’s had some problems, particularly with his body, over the last period.

“I think that’s probably been his biggest challenge. Even when I had him in the national team, I was consistently trying to get him to a certain level from his body’s point of view.

“I haven’t had a good chat with him yet so I’ll certainly be doing that with him and the rest of the players.

“Does he fit into the style of football I want to play? Absolutely.”

(Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Postecoglou coached Rogic at international level with The Socceroos, becoming a mainstay in his teams from 2015 to the manager’s resignation in 2017, playing 24 of 29 games under Postecoglou. Rogic has likely been telling the rest of the club all about Postecoglou and how he intends to play, which will likely excite the Celtic players.

“Tommy knows me better than anyone in that dressing room right now and he knows that I treat everybody the same.

“I set us off in a certain direction and the ones who want to be part of that are part of that, and the ones who maybe can’t be or don’t want to be will fall by the wayside.

“He’s certainly someone I’m looking forward to working with again.

“I’m hoping we can get him fit and playing the football I know he’s shown here at different times, and I know he can show in my style of football because he’s already done it with the national team.”

Rogic was in spectacular form under Rodgers in two and a half years but the trip to the Asia Cup in 2019 seemed to slow Rogic down entirely at Celtic. He returned to the team at the end of the season under Neil Lennon as the interim boss helped win the Treble Treble but required surgery again that summer, which effectively limited his involvement in the Quadruple Treble season. This last season saw Rogic used sparingly, he provided assists in a poor run of form as Celtic’s season tailspun towards mediocrity but the arrival of Ange could result in Rogic becoming a big player for the club again.

Rogic rejected the chance to go away with Australia in order to get fit for the start of Celtic’s season and he will likely see the opportunities under Ange to establish himself as a first team regular once again.

About Author

Born just as Celtic were stopping the Ten, Lubo98 follows Celtic home and away and helps run his local Celtic Supporters Club. He goes to all the games and is a Law Graduate. Has a particular fondness for Tom Rogic among the current Celts and both Lubo and Henrik form his earliest Celtic memories.

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