Postecoglou has fostered one big happy family at Parkhead for Taylor
Celtic defender reckons manager has prioritised good people as well as good player for title push
ANGE Postecoglou jetted into Glasgow on his own in the summer, but already he’s cultivated a Celtic family at the club.
The Greek-Australian manager joined Celtic in June without any of his own backroom staff and a major rebuild on his hands.
Now, just 10 months on, Postecoglou has Celtic on the verge of a Scottish Premiership triumph with a transformed squad featuring 17 additions to the Parkhead first team and youth side.
There are no fewer 14 nationalities represented across a diverse first-team squad spanning from experienced former England No1 Joe Hart to the signings of Japanese quartet Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Yosuke Ideguchi.
It’s a huge task to assemble a competitive squad on talent alone across the summer and January transfer windows but – according to Greg Taylor – for Postecoglou, the key has been signing good people rather than just good players.
Left-back Taylor, 24, is one of the players who was already at Celtic before Postecoglou’s arrival, but he has been more than impressed by the manager’s success in recruitment, results and rapport at Celtic.
“The gaffer has touched on the fact we have signed good people, which is important,” said Taylor when asked about the positive feeling emanating from both the Parkhead playing and backroom staff.
“We have a strong changing room and everyone is out there fighting for each other.
“We tried to build almost a family and I think we have done that this year.
“Everyone in that changing room has got ability that they can bring to the table, but there’s also good people in there.
“People have been thrown in at the deep end. Carl [Starfelt] played his first league game without having even trained.
“There have been difficult moments, but no one has ever looked for excuses and we still won’t.”
If the Celtic squad were to be viewed through the lens of a family dynamic then there’d be little need to look past Callum McGregor in a role-model position or older brother to the youthful players in the side.
For Taylor, the captain’s influence – along with experienced pros Hart, Tom
Rogic and Nir Bitton – is a massive factor in setting the tone and leading by example in the race for the title.
He explained: “We have a core of experienced boys. Callum [McGregor], Joe Hart, Tom [Rogic], Nir [Bitton]. People who have been there.
“So it helps to have them in the team and the rest of us just follow suit from the example they have set.”
Part of the success at Celtic – having already lifted the Premier Sports Cup this term – will no doubt have come from a united belief in their philosophy on and off the pitch.
Postecoglou hailed his players for being “laser focused” on their mission to regain the Scottish Premiership title as he insisted they’ve walked the title race “tightrope” all season.
And Taylor echoed the mantra of taking things one game at a time to achieve their goals come the end of the season. While outwith the walls of Parkhead there have been suggestions the title race is already over – ahead of the visit of Rangers next weekend – there hasn’t been a second thought of silverware until it’s mathematically over in the Celtic dressing room.
A long trip to Dingwall to play Ross County was perhaps an obvious potential bananaskin moment for Celtic, but it was overcome with aplomb. And Taylor insists it’s down to the approach at Celtic that they’re seeing such positive results on the pitch.
“I would say all of the last five games are difficult,” said Taylor on whether the County match could’ve been one of the trickier remaining fixtures.
“Any team that has made it to the top six deserves to be there and we looked at it [County] because it was the next.
“We have strong beliefs at the club in the way that we want to play and try to not go too far away from those. When we do, that’s normally when we come unstuck.
“But we stuck with our beliefs and it showed late on.
“We have four big league games and we want to sprint across the finishing line by winning all four.
“The focus is purely on the next one. We want three points with another strong performance.
“We know that there are 12 points to play for and that is a lot of points.
“We have done alright so far keeping with those beliefs, so we will stick with them.”
Next up for Celtic is the visit of Rangers to Parkhead on Sunday. The hosts boast a six-point gap at the top and could stretch that to nine with victory. Given their vastly superior goal-difference a win over their fierce Glasgow rivals would all but end the title race.
There’s no need for added incentive, but the loss to Rangers in extra time in the Scottish Cup earlier this month has only served to heighten the want for victory this time round.
“We have moments throughout the season where we have had disappointing results. Last weekend was one of them,” said Taylor of the loss to Rangers.
“In a cup competition, you get no second chances, so we had to go out and get Ross County and start well and we did that.
“I think the game was close last week. We can definitely be better as we try to be better every week.
“If we stick to our beliefs and do that throughout the whole 90, then, hopefully, we will be successful.”