After taking you though Callum McGregor’s Media Conference we turn our attention to the Celtic manager who earlier today picked up his third consecutive Scottish Premiership manager of the the month.
Starting with a fitness updates from Ange..”Everyone’s got through the International window well. The only one who’s not available for the weekend is James Forrest. He’s still got a bit of a niggle from his last game so he’s the one that’s ruled out, everyone else returned from international duty OK and the rest have the training all week.”
Do you have them all available and fit for Sunday then? “Yeah, at this point. Apart from James (Forrest).”
Asked about how crucial it would be if Kyogo starts or makes an influence from the bench. “He’s obviously a very good player and he had a fantastic first half of the season and it was disappointing for him that the injury came along and has kept him out for quite a while. We know the impact that he can have as a footballer. He’s already had a massive impact on our season and, yeah, once he’s up and ready and out there again, I’m sure he’ll be looking to make a similar impact.
On the significance of this game in determining where the title could go? “It’s as significant as any other game, I guess. Your get to the tail end of the season and picking up three points is going to be significant every weekend until we get to a point where it’s not anymore.
“It’s obviously a massive game and one we’re looking forward to. From our perspective, we’re down there to try and play our football and impose ourselves on the game and hopefully come out successful and if that happens then we’ve got another game the following week to focus on.”
Asked and the difficulty in playing in the same manner as the 3-0 win over theRangers from 2 February, given this game is at Ibrox. “To be fair, we’re doing that every week irrespective of where we’re playing. So if people have seen us sort of take a different approach, then you probably haven’t been looking close enough.
“Our approach has been the same whether we play at home or away and it’ll be the same on Sunday. We were going to set up our team to try and impose our football on the game because that’s what gives us the best chance of success.
“For us, it’s not about adjusting what we’re gonna do it’s about trying to make sure that the game is played in the areas we want it to be played because, again, that gives us the best chance of success.”
Next Ange was asked to comment on the news that theRangers had pulled out of the Sydney Super Cup and whether this disappointment him, or has nothing to do with him. “It’s got to do with me because I’m the manager of a club that’s going there and looking forward to it.
“Apart from the fact that I think it’s going to be great for our football club because I know how passionate people are about this club and football in general, for me it’s a trip back home. So I am certainly looking forward to it.”
So is it disappointing that theRangers have pulled out? “Disappointment? Disappointment for me is about things I can control. I’m not going to get disappointed over things that I have got nothing to do with.”
Next the Celtic manager was asked about Sunday being the first time in this fixture he will have managed in front of both sets of fans is whether that is something he’s looking forward to? “It’s a bit of a stretch saying ‘both sets of fans’. I mean, we’re going to have 700 in there who no doubt will make an impression.
“Yeah, look, it’s great. And I think when you look at all the derby games around the world, that’s what kind of makes them a little bit special is that you obviously get some parochial support from both sides. So yeah, it’d be great if we can sort of increase that number over the next few years. But just to have sort of 700 will be great for us. Sure, they’ll make a noise and make an impact but, irrespective of the atmosphere it’s gonna be great. That’s why these games are special.
Asked about being named Manager of the month again and if this is a sign of the progress Ange and the team are making? “I think it’s a sign of the consistency that the boys have shown for the last few months. Our level of performance has been really good. The results have obviously reflected that but, aside from that, I just think our level of performance has been really consistent which is not easy to do.
“They’re always different kind of battles – home, away and working through various things. So the fact that we’re able to maintain a really strong level of performance, I’m really proud of that. For that to happen, it’s not just the players, it’s obviously the staff, who are making sure that the players are ready for each challenge every week. I think it’s great credit to everyone involved.
Asked about previous comments about his teams peaking at the right time and if that time is now? “Well you want to be at your best all the time, obviously. But I’ve said a few times that there’s no doubt that with the way the season’s gone for us it was going to be hard for us to be at our best right at the beginning because of the nature of the way we had to put the group together.
“We had to grind our way through it but the best planning was that we get to this point of the season where you know that all the games have huge consequences and try and have a fit and healthy squad and also be trying to play our best football at this time of the year. I think we’ve sort of grown during the season. Each block we’ve got a little bit better and now we’re into the final block. So that’s our intent: to play our best football now.
“Certainly, in terms of the health of the squad, this is the best place we’ve been in all year, for sure. Which gives us that platform but, again, you’ve got to go out there and do it. It’s one thing to plan for these things but we still have to go out there and execute and the players know that. So, like I said, the foundation is there for us to play our best football now because we have probably the strongest group of players we’ve had since the beginning of the year.”
Asked about how different he feels going to Ibrox with a 31-match domestic unbeaten run under his belt? “You approach every game with the intent of going and trying to win it. That game, the first game we had, we were the same. We weren’t far off it. I mean, I know we didn’t win and we weren’t going through a great run but there wasn’t much in the game to be fair.
“So, you know, we went there with the intent of trying to play our football, trying to win it but a lot of things have changed since then. And things change quickly in football in general. Nothing that happened last week or the week before is going to be a massive factor on Sunday. What’s going be the biggest factor on Sunday is how we perform on Sunday, not what we’ve done before.”
Asked about his team talk – after the club yesterday released the audio from Ange’s team talk ahead of the League Cup final win over Hibs in December – being a good chance to reinforce his message? “I don’t know if you need motivation for these kinds of games or for the cup final. It’s just about finding the words that will hopefully give the guys a good frame of reference and a clear mind about what’s needing to be done for that particular game.
“For me, always the message is it can’t just be me trying to motivate them with something that’s not real or something that’s artificial. It’s got to be about what we’re about. And that message is there every day, whether it’s training or game-day we’re constantly reinforcing the message about who we want to be, the team we want to be, what’s important to us, what we believe in.
“And when it comes to game time I want the players clear in their minds about the kind of things that they need to rely on, not that they need to find anything special, any extra motivation or anything that we don’t talk about on a daily basis or work on on a daily basis. Sunday will be no different. I’m sure the players will be motivated. They’ll be excited by the prospect of playing in such a big game. The final message will be about making sure that when we go out there and are faced with the challenges we’re going to be faced with, we rely on the things that we believe in to overcome them.”
Asked if Tom Rogic has made a quicker than expected recovery? “If we had a game last week he wouldn’t have played. He didn’t train at all last week so after the knock (against Ross County) he struggled. But having a long week this week he didn’t train on Monday or Tuesday but he’s put in a couple of sessions now and he feels pretty good. So he’s available again.
Next the Celtic Fan Media questions. Now you have all the chess pieces available on the board, is there added pressure on you to succeed with these boys? “Added pressure? How much pressure do you reckon I had when I got announced as manager of Celtic at the beginning of the year? Is there more pressure?
“OK, I’m sure I’ll find out – but it’s all good. The key to all that is that you kind of embrace it. This is a position we wanted to be in. I’d hate to be in a position where we were playing a big game like this and there was no consequence to it because we were too far behind or it had no meaning. That’s the pressure because then you go ‘well, that’s that, not the position I want this football club to be in’.
“Where we are right now is where I want us to be and so that’s not pressure – that’s me hoping that we’d be in this situation. If you hope to be in a certain situation, you can’t be not feeling good about so I’m looking forward to the next period of games. As I said, this is the exciting part of the season and we’re in a good position to create some success for ourselves. Come Sunday that’s what we’ll be focusing on.”
Asked about the news that Kyogo is back giving fans a huge lift, and if it given the players one as well? “Look, it always gives the players a lift, whether it was Kyogo or David Turnbull, all the guys who have been out for a while because they see how hard they work on a daily basis. It’s not easy when you’re going through extended rehab.
“A lot of what you’re doing is on your own but you’re still sort of in the dressing-rooms and I think that the players feel for their team-mates, particularly guys like Kyogo and David who had such a massive impact on our first half of the season.
“I’m sure everyone’s got to lift. He’s buzzing as well because he gets an opportunity again to be involved and do things he loves. So it’s great but, again, from our perspective it’s about making sure that he’s 100 per cent right and we give him every opportunity to make the impact we know we can.”
Asked what do he expects from theRangers given the chat that thy might play with a back three? “They’ve been pretty consistent with their form. I know people said because of our position in the league they’ve tailed off but they’ve only lost one game in the league since the beginning of season since Gio has taken over and that was against us.
“Our form has been really, really good. Probably people have a look at their form and the way they’re playing and think that maybe they’re a bit off it but they’ve been pretty consistent so we’re expecting a tough game. In terms of their approach, I think they’re a strong team, well organised, well structured.
“They’ve got some strengths in terms of being able to play in transition. And yeah, they’ve been fairly flexible in terms of how they play within the game. For us, we go into every game, this one included, expecting the opposition to be at their best and to have the strongest team out there. Then it’s how we can overcome what they bring to the table with our football. So that doesn’t change this weekend, I’m sure it’ll be a tough game, I’m sure they’ll be a formidable opponent and it’s up to us to overcome the challenges in front of us.
Asked about the significance of scoring the first goal in these games? “I think it’s fair to say that in most big games, the first goal does have consequences. Particularly when there’s also a big impact in terms of the outcome of the game because inevitably, one team or another feels the pressure of that.
“But from our perspective, again, they’re the kind of things that we try and understand. I try and prepare the players that for whatever challenge there is out there, the solutions lie within our football. If you go into a game saying ‘we have to score the first goal’ and you concede one in the first minute through no fault of your own, that can set panic among the players.
“They’ll think ‘we have to change our approach’. We’re pretty clear in what we’re trying to do every week, every game we play. There’s a clear understanding of our methodology – what we need to do to score goals, what we need to do to stop the opposition scoring goals. And the last thing you want to be looking at is a scoreboard because, if you’re looking at the scoreboard and that affects your approach to the game, you’re always going to be in a position where there’s no real certainty about how to take the next step.
“There’s been games we’ve fallen behind this year and we’ve tried to stay calm through that process. Other games we’ve been ahead and that certainly helps you in terms of the way we want to play our football but you can’t get sort of fixed into thinking that you know that there’s going to be one decisive thing that’s going to decide the outcome of the game because, like I said, you fall into a trap of having a pretty narrow escape route from there.
“What I try to tell the players every game is that whatever the challenge they may be in – and I don’t know what they’re going to be on the weekend because I don’t know how the game is going to go, it could go well might not go well – but when they’re out there looking for solutions they exist within our framework in our game of football.”
Watch Ange’s Media Conference below…
