More from Ange Postecoglou’s Media Conference from yesterday afternoon ahead of tomorrow’s Scottish Premiership match against theRangers at Celtic Park…
Q: Anthony Ralston was talking about taking the ‘craziness’ out of a fixture like this. How important is that, to know how much this game means and the atmosphere that goes with it, but also to take that breath and be calm on the pitch?
Ange Postecoglou: “That’s the big challenge for players in big games and when they play for big clubs. You know that they are human beings with emotions, their emotions will be running high on the day, they understand the significance of the game and when you have the atmosphere we’re going to have at Celtic Park that has an effect on people.
“So that’s the challenge of performing well in big games and playing at big clubs – that you need to channel that in a positive way and almost use it to further drive the principles that have got you there in the first place.
“I think sometimes it can be easy to get swayed by that believing you need to do something extra or something extra was required or something slightly different. I think that’s when that sort of energy can be used in the wrong way.
“So the challenge for our players and team on these big occasions is to make sure that we use that – we want to have that energy and enthusiasm and that passion that’s going to be on the night, we want to use that. But use that within the context of making sure we still stick to our principles and that’s the beautiful thing of it.
“I think most players that’s the area they want to get challenged in most: ‘when the stakes are the highest can I bring my best game and stick to my principles?’
Q: A chance to go nine clear with just three games left is an exciting position to be in – how are you feeling ahead of this one?
Ange Postecoglou: Looking forward to it. I mean, we know we’re kind of at the final stretch so to speak. And I was talking about it with the coaches this morning: we’ve literally got probably two weeks left and it’s all done, which is crazy.
“You’re in this mode of taking it a week at a time and ‘head down’ for quite a long time and then you realise that the next time I say ‘a week at a time’ that’ll be it. So, yeah, we’re looking forward to it. It’s a big game, it’s going to be an unbelievable atmosphere. It’s a game that you want to be involved in you know. If we’re successful it gives us a hell of a chance of finishing Champions – all those kind of factors going into it. Yeah, looking forward to it.
Q: Do you expect (the)Rangers to be to be right up for this one like they were for the semi-final? For that they had the extra time three days before, do you think because it’s between ties and is a semi-final they might rotate a little bit more this Sunday?
Ange Postecoglou: “That’s not the way we think about it. We expect them to be at their best as they were in the semi-final and as they were at Ibrox in the game before. I think other people sort of read too much into that stuff. I think they’re going to put out a team that believes it can beat us and challenge us and we’re going to be expecting them to be at their best as we have in every other game.
“So what happens midweek becomes really irrelevant to our preparation anyway. Now what the outcome is on game day? Well, everyone will see that but in terms of our preparation, it doesn’t change anything. We don’t think about it being any sort of different challenge for us.
“We’re expecting a tough game as all the other derbies have been and our job is to make sure we bring our energy, enthusiasm and intensity. Particularly at home, we know that we’re tough to beat when we do that.”
Q: Just want to ask you about some of your players: Giorgos Giakoumakis and Kyogo Furuhashi. Two strikers with some of the most goals in the league. Is it a good dilemma for you to have that you’ve got to pick one of them? Could you play both of them?
Ange Postecoglou: “It’s better than earlier in the year when I had neither of them. That was a tough one but both are in great form. Kyogo certainly is getting closer to the fitness and the sharpness that he’s comfortable with and with Giakoumakis, he only missed the week which is good, it meant he didn’t lose any conditioning.
“So both are ready to go. Both are ready to make an impact and can they both play together? Certainly, they can. But ultimately, it’s about me having as many of our players playing their best football on Sunday. That’s going to be important to us rather than thinking that one individual or two individuals are going to make the difference.
“The key to success coming to this point has been that we’ve had contributions from everybody at different times and we’re going to need everyone ready to do that on Sunday.”
Q: You experienced a derby with a 50-50 split of the fans. Do you think there’s a case for bringing back a bigger away allocation for the benefit of the game itself?
Ange Postecoglou: “There’s no doubt I think it gives a better atmosphere. Absolutely. I’ve always said that part of the magic of this game and why it’s been known all around the world is the atmosphere that’s created and, if you look at the past when there’s been more of an away allocation, it just adds to the atmosphere.
“We’re at home this week, so I’ll take what we’ve got this week. I’m sure fans and supporters will make a hell of a lot of noise and create the atmosphere that we know is special at Celtic Park and try and use that to sort of generate the intensity and tempo we need to win the game.”
Q: It’s still unclear at this point who (the)Rangers have available, particularly up front. Does that make it more difficult for you to plan what you’re going to do or does it make no difference?
Ange Postecoglou: “No, not really. You always analyse the opposition, you always respect the opposition. But I think we’ve really made sure that we focus more on how we play the game and how we embrace and approach each different challenge.
‘For us, particularly at home this year, we’ve been really good at getting off to a strong start and putting the opposition under pressure from the start and that’s going to be another important part of it for us on Sunday. We know that when we can do that early in a game, it gives us a good foothold to grow into a game and we inevitably finish strongly anyway.
“So we’re preparing for them to be at their best and, at their best, they’re a tough team to play and, at our best, we’re a tough team to stop. So that’s all we can do.
