LIVING IT UP AS A NEW LEGEND
Ange on cloud nine after swapping title tales with O’Neill... and being the star guest as fans party
IN the space of 24 hours this week, Ange Postecoglou was exposed to the profound impact of his success at Celtic Park and reminded of the need to ensure that it endures.
Travelling back to Parkhead from Tannadice in the early hours of Thursday, the Australian and his players were star guests at an impromptu title party as thousands of supporters gathered to welcome them home.
Separated only by a few hours’ sleep, the manager’s dash to London to attend the Celtic Foundation’s Gala Dinner was rewarded with an exchange with one of the few men around who could relate to what he was going through in those moments.
‘It’s been pretty full on,’ said the Celtic boss. ‘But it was great to have the support of the Foundation and to see the legendary Martin O’Neill there and spend some time with people.
‘I’d bumped into Martin a couple of times before very briefly. He’s always been very kind and it was great to catch up with him and have a bit of a chat. He’s a great man.’
Never one to need reminding of his own managerial record, O’Neill’s recollection of his maiden season in Glasgow was taken in the spirit in which it was intended.
‘He mentioned that he won a Treble in his first year! I only won a Double. It’s all good,’ laughed Postecoglou.
‘That’s the beauty of this football club. You don’t need to look anywhere else for motivation or inspiration. It’s a club which is built on success and great deeds.
‘All of us who get the opportunity to serve the club, you want to set your own mark and try to emulate the feats of the great people who’ve been here.
‘I just find it inspiring and motivating that the legends of this football club have set those standards.
‘It’s up to me, and the people who work with me and the ones who come after me, to try and maintain those standards.’
No one who gathered to greet the team bus much earlier that day would argue that Postecoglou isn’t already doing just that.
With fireworks adding to the raucous noise, the Celtic manager required a megaphone to address his adoring public. This was why he came here.
‘It was special,’ he recalled. ‘It was great at Tannadice. It was great sharing it with our supporters there who’d made the trip.
‘It’s a fair drive back down here. It was pretty late, around midnight, and we were all pretty exhausted but we got word there were a few people at Celtic Park — and that “few people” ended up being a few thousand who were all singing.
‘It was great. It’s one of those things which wasn’t organised, it was spontaneous. It was great for myself, the players and my staff just to go out there and acknowledge them and just to see the joy on their faces.
‘As I keep saying to the players, that’s the real rewards. You get others like medals, but the best bit is what it does for the people who love this football club.’
It’s a wise man who drinks in these moments. A tough old game, football offers precious few of them, with the harsh realities of the business always lingering.
Even before another ball was kicked, news of the departures of Nir Bitton and Tom Rogic became public. They won’t be the last this summer.
Vasilis Barkas, Boli Bolingoli, Ismaila Soro and Albian Ajeti clearly have no futures at the club. In an interview yesterday, Christopher Jullien admitted he may soon have to seek pastures new.
The reshaping of the squad is as much about moving such players on as it is bringing in fresh blood.
‘It doesn’t benefit anyone but, with all these things, it’s about having discussions with the players and everyone coming to an agreement about what the best way forward is,’ Postecoglou said.
‘Players obviously have to think about their own careers. As a football club, we have to think about our own strategy for the coming season and beyond.
‘We’re constantly having these discussions and, ultimately, I think when there’s some sort of uniformity between the parties you get an outcome.
‘That’s what we’ll do. That’s what happened with Nir and Tom and it will happen with the other boys who potentially could be looking elsewhere.’ Celtic won’t be ushering anything like the same numbers through the door as they did last summer, but a handful of key acquisitions are being targeted nonetheless.
After a year in Scotland, is the manager inclined to now look closer to home?
‘The bit I think people have maybe missed is that what I have done is look everywhere for the right footballers,’ he said. ‘There just happened to be four in Japan that I knew could make a difference. Liel (Abada) obviously came in from Israel.
‘I don’t neglect any market. We want to be a club that is creative with the way we identify players and not close us off from any option, whether that be right here on our doorstep, the academy, Scotland, the UK, Europe, Asia, South America or North America.
‘That’s the strategy we are going to have — we are not going to be closed to any market. What we are going to try and do is find the right footballers who will fit into our way of playing and are also the right characters.’
The uncertainty surrounding the futures of Jota (below) and Cameron Carter-Vickers will not go on indefinitely.
Without demanding an answer on their respective commitments while the confetti is still in the air today, Postecoglou hopes for clarity in the coming days.
‘We’ve been working on it for quite a while, talking to the boys and their representatives,’ he said. ‘Again, with all these things, you need everyone to come to the same place to get it done.
‘We’ll continue to talk to both the boys and their representatives and hopefully get an outcome in the near future. I think they’d want that as much as we do so I wouldn’t expect it would take too long after the season finishes.
‘But, at the same time, with both Cam and Jota, they both wanted to focus on bringing the trophy back here to Celtic Park.
‘We had an agreement with both boys that we leave that stuff to other people — and that our roles were to make sure we prioritised what happened on the field.
‘I wouldn’t expect it to drag on for too long. There is an end date for these things. Hopefully it’s a conclusion we are all happy with.’
More immediately, there is a trophy to receive and three points at stake against Motherwell.
Postecoglou has no intention of watching his side’s unbeaten run end at 31 games just because the team have clinched the title.
‘We want to finish the season with a victory,’ he said. ‘Our preparation hasn’t been any different from any other game. We’ve been great at home all year and we want to continue that and finish off in the right way.’