BOSS CAN STAVE OFF A MUTINY
NO matter how ange Postecoglou’s odyssey as Celtic boss pans out in the coming months, the australian will always be distinct from his predecessors in one respect.
When the flak flew after his team’s Champions League exit to midtjylland on Wednesday in what was his second full night in the job, it went over his head and landed squarely on the suits of the club’s directors.
The men who sent a new manager into battle hopelessly ill-prepared are being viewed by a growing majority of supporters as the root of the problem.
Although largely exempt from criticism for a lame display in Denmark, Postecoglou couldn’t fail to notice an angry mood among fans that now threatens to become mutinous.
The fury has come as no surprise for him, nor to hear some question if he is the right man in the right place but perhaps at the wrong time. a coach immersed in the game for as long as he can remember, it’s simply what he expects to happen when things don’t go to plan.
‘I’m glad people are taking care of my sensibilities and thinking I’m this fragile little petal that’s going to fall apart,’ he smiled. ‘I’ve grown up in the big, bad world of football and I understand it.
‘People have every right to show that emotion. I’m passionate about the game and I love people being passionate about it because I know it goes both ways.
‘People talk about the special atmosphere at Celtic Park, and
I’ve already felt it. If you want that, you can only get it if people care. You can’t have people care then expect them to react well if things don’t go well.
‘We had a disappointing night. I expect there to be blowback and criticism from that and people disappointed.
‘As soon as we turn it around, I think we will have equally the same amount of support and love that the club needs and this group of players deserves.’
That he appears to be a tough character is no bad thing. With a squad woefully short in quality and recruitment moving at glacial pace, Celtic fans are anticipating more pain before joy. If only the signing of players who are up to the task was the sum total of the issues piling up in Postecoglou’s in-tray.
‘People have asked me about bringing my own people in, well, it’s not the coaching area I think we need that extra support in,’ said Postecoglou. ‘the areas we need are particularly in the conditioning and sports science areas. We need some more people in to help us. It’s going to be a punishing schedule.
‘I’m a big believer in managing your squad of players through that period if you want to play the kind of football we want to play, be a team that plays high intensity, pressurises the opposition and wants to move the ball quickly.
‘That takes a physical toll. So looking after the players off the field is really important.’
More immediately, the importance of leaving tynecastle with a victory tonight can’t be overstated.
Postecoglou is no stranger to Gorgie although his previous trips were rather less pressurised than this league opener.
‘I came up here a couple of times,’ said the ex-australia boss. ‘through Hearts, we had quite a few players come through and play for us. there is a strong aussie connection with the club. Paddy Kisnorbo was there for a while,
Oliver Bozanic a couple of years ago, so I’ve followed Hearts.
‘Being on the other side of the globe doesn’t mean I wasn’t aware of what was going on here.
‘My Monday mornings were literally a backlog of games I needed to watch that Aussies were involved in. I could be watching games from the third division in England, to the Premier in Scotland to the Czech second division.’
With games now coming at him like snow flakes in a blizzard, this was always going to be a logistically challenging time.
Once the final whistle goes tonight, there will be a few moments to reflect before the mind turns to the trip to the Czech Republic to face Jablonec on Thursday.
The ongoing challenges of the pandemic do not make a difficult job any easier.
‘It does affect that side of it, but that’s kind of the same for everyone in the last 18 months,’ he said. ‘The analysis department does a great job. They’ve been following Hearts in pre-season, so while we’re off playing our games, they are working hard on the opposition.
‘It will be the same in the Europa League. So I’m really happy with the way the information is being gathered with the limitations we have in not being able to watch opponents live.’