Ange Postecoglou’s headline making interview with Optus Sport is pretty much unmissable for all Celtic supporters around the world but there’s a second interview today with the Celtic manager – this one with Celtic TV that may be somewhat under the radar in comparison but does provide some notable updates on the squad activities during the international break, Tom Rogic’s fitness situation after that injury picked up against Ross County at the weekend and Ange’s own assessment of how well his team has performed since the start of this year.
“It’s been a good solid block for us since the winter break, and the boys have been really good in terms of how we’re playing our football,” Ange told Celtic TV. “The results have obviously put us in a great position and they are all feeling good about things.
“Physically we are in good shape, and squad-wise it’s probably been the best it’s been all year, which is important, so hopefully everyone gets through this international break and hit that last important period.”
With a dozen players away on international duty – two had to call off, Tom Rogic from the Australia squad and Daizen Maeda from Japan and the rest of the squad working away or alternatively being allowed some time off to see their families or just to have a rest given the minutes that they’ve played.
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Anthony Ralston – weirdly missing from the Scotland squad – was at Celtic Park today alongside Caitlin Hayes promoting the Celtic FC Women v Hibs match at Celtic Park on Saturday afternoon and we’ve seen Celtic fans photographs of Joe Hart enjoying the sunshine in Tenerife with his family.
“It’s a mixed bag. We’ll give some time off to some guys who have played a lot of football in this period,” Ange explained. “We have two or three whose families aren’t with them at the moment, so it’s a good chance for them to spend some time with the family.
“There’s others who need some work, so we get the chance to put some work into some guys who haven’t played a lot recently as we know that once it resumes, that’ll be it, it’ll be heads down and going for the finish line, so I want everyone available for that.
“That’ll be the first week, and in the second week the internationalists will get back on different dates, but by the middle of the week we should have everyone back and we’ll look forward to the next fixture.”
On Tom Rogic’s injury situation after the international call-off, Ange’s news means that Rogic is already a major doubt for the game against theRangers at Ibrox a week on Sunday.
“We’ll see how it all transpires,” Ange said. “Unfortunately he couldn’t go back and represent his country which was disappointing for him. He’s still sore.
“He probably won’t train this week and we’ll just assess how he goes in the week leading up to the next game. But suffice to say he was pretty sore after it. He probably could’ve been a helluva lot worse, but at the same time it’s enough to keep him out for the medium-term.”
The full interview with Optus Sport is available to view now, see below…
