This should be an interesting meeting. Former Australia goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer has announced he’s been questioning Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou for Optus Sport, in an interview due to be aired during the upcoming international break, and it may require an element of backtracking for Schwarzer, given his previous disparaging remarks about Scottish football and a certain Australian playmaker.
Enjoyed catching up with Ange Postecoglou @CelticFC this week. He is doing a fantastic job and is on the brink of something very special. You can see the whole interview on @OptusSport shortly pic.twitter.com/m6tCUlphQl
— Mark Schwarzer (@schwarzer_mark) March 20, 2022
These interviews with Australian media often see Ange Postecoglou in a far more relaxed and open frame of mind, much like he is when questioned by Celtic Fan Media, rather than the Scottish mainstream press. However, this one should be very interesting indeed considering Schwarzer has in the past been somewhat dismissive of both Scottish football and whether it is a competitive enough environment for the likes of Tom Rogic.
Now it will be intriguing to see if, on the back of Postecoglou’s impressive start to his Celtic managerial career – and the increased interest in Celtic and Scottish football in his homeland – if Schwarzer will change his tune from the stance he took, as reported in Scottish Sun, just two years ago concerning Tom Rogic, his form and the apparent detrimental effect Scottish football had on Celtic’s playmaker.
“This is the thing, I look at Celtic and they have dominated the league for so long now, and yes they have some tough games, I just don’t think he is tested enough in other aspects of the game. From a tactical point of view, from a technical point of view, I don’t think he is tested enough because of the opposition they play enough every week.
“If he goes to a more competitive league, I think he would also do well in the Bundesliga, again I think that is a perfect league for someone like Tom Rogic, I think he would be tested more regularly day in day out.
“He wouldn’t be at a Bayern Munich that would be winning the league, or a Dortmund or RB Leipzig necessarily, or at the top and expecting to win every game, he’ll be a mid-table team so you are coming up against far better opposition.
“The time when Rogic gets tested the most, as with other Celtic players, is when they play in Europe and that is then a do-or-die situation because you’ve got a limited amount of games to perform and get up to speed. It’s like anything, if you go to another league step up, I’m not saying the teams he is going to go to are going to be better than Celtic, it is just going to be in a league that is more competitive.”
Schwarzer was also critical of Tom Rogic’s performances for his national team, and with the subject of Rogic bound to creep into the conversation, we’ll see if the former Socceroos’ ‘keeper is still of the same opinion now the player is managed by Ange Postecoglou, and if so, whether he’s brave enough to raise his concerns with the Celtic boss.
“The criticism that we all have is that for the national team he doesn’t seem to be able to deliver 90 minutes of consistency like he can for Celtic. Some players for whatever reason aren’t able to transfer that club form into national form. We’ve seen glimpses. When he performs for say 45 minutes you just go wow, what a player.”
These interviews with Australian media are always a good watch, as it often allows an insight into Ange Postecoglou we don’t always see when he’s in front of the Scottish media. This time out it will also have another intriguing element added to the mix – will Mark Schwarzer back down or double down on his opinions on Scottish football and Tom Rogic? I think he’s odd on to resort to the former, don’t you?
Niall J
