ANGE ENJOYING UPPER HAND

Aussie is proud of his dominant Old Firm record... but says only silverware matters at end of season

AFTER an inauspicious start to Old Firm life, Ange Postecoglou has certainly warmed to the task. The Australian lost his first encounter on his first trip to Ibrox at the start of last season. In eight derby matches since, his sole taste of defeat came after extra-time in last season’s Scottish Cup semi-final.

It’s an impressive body of work. One which entitles his side to feel good about themselves as they prepare to face a team still looking for a breakthrough win in the fixture under Michael Beale.

Postecoglou is proud of his record to date, which shows five wins and two draws on top of those two losses, but is reluctant to crow about it. Any manager who ever feels they have this game sussed is sleep walking towards calamity.

‘They are all separate entities,’ said the Celtic manager. ‘What’s important is that, by the end of it, you look at it as a collective and say: “Were we successful this year”? That’s always going to be the measure. The trials and tribulations during the year are all there for every team.

‘It’s how you react to each of them, whether it’s a setback or us going on a great run and staying focused and not getting complacent at any point.

‘Every game is separate. We’re talking about a cup semi-final but, for us, it’s just another challenge.

‘It’s going to be a tough one and we’ll need to be at our best with the knowledge that, if we can get the job done, we can then play for another trophy.’

While silverware will always be the main gauge by which any manager of Celtic or Rangers is judged, those who can’t take temporary charge of the city’s bragging rights tend to live on borrowed time.

Without a win in three derbies, you might say there’s more than a Scottish Cup at stake for Beale tomorrow.

Postecoglou ticked that box at the second time of asking. Due to face Rangers on January 2 last year, his ambitions were put on hold for a month due to a rise in coronavirus cases.

With his side needing a victory to finally go top of the table, an emphatic 3-0 win under the lights on a February evening proved to be worth the wait.

Asked if the feeling that followed that first derby win was more one of relief, he said: ‘Not really. We’d started to turn our season around and we were close that night.

‘We knew it wasn’t just a game against Rangers in a derby. It was also a chance to go top for the first time that year. So it was a big game.

‘That was the key thing for us. We had to perform when it was most important and I thought the lads were outstanding that night.

‘I know you can say it was my first win, but I’d only had one other crack at it which was at the start of the season.

‘So cut me a bit of slack. It wasn’t as if I’d gone years without winning in that game. So I think “relief” is a strong word.

‘For me, that night was more that we knew we’d clawed our way back into a position to challenge for the league after we’d been written off fairly early.

‘There was no greater way to hit the top that night than by playing the football we did. For me, it was more sort of pride in the boys performing in that situation than anything else.’

Seven months separated the Australian’s first two clashes with Rangers, but it now feels like there’s one around every corner.

The teams met at Ibrox at the start of January, at Hampden at the end of February and at Celtic Park at the start of this month. After tomorrow, there will only be two weeks to draw breath before the final league clash between the teams at Rangers’ ground.

‘I don’t think fatigue comes into it,’ Postecoglou (below) insisted. ‘They all have a different context and, whether it’s in the league or whether you are home or away, there are sort of different challenges there.

‘One was a cup final. This is a cup semi-final. They are all separate contests. That’s the way I treat them.

‘You know that if you are going to be successful in every competition here, you have to knock off the best teams and, for us, whether it’s the league or the cup, it’s been Rangers this year. That’s our challenge — to make sure we do it again.’

Recent history shows that last week’s blip at home to Motherwell may prove to be no bad thing for Postecoglou’s men.

In almost two seasons in Scotland, a draw or a defeat domestically has always been immediately followed by a win. It surely speaks to the mentality the Australian has forged.

‘It’s fair to say that I was disappointed with last week but, as I said after the game, it’s a chance for us to learn and evolve from that,’ he added.

‘We understand that perfection doesn’t exist. You can’t win every game of football.

‘For us to have been on a very good run for such a long time — how you react to wins is just as important as how you react to a draw like last week. ‘Complacency sets in when you just take it for granted. The boys are really good at not taking it for granted and learning and trying to improve.

‘Last week is no different. We’ll go into this game knowing that, again, if we play to the levels we can, we are hard to stop.

And that’s always going to be the key for us.’ The Hampden loss at this time last year is a case in point. Celtic simply didn’t allow such a painful reverse to undo all of their stellar work in the league up to that point. Postecoglou’s side rebounded with a win over Ross County, then effectively wrapped up the flag by denying Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men the victory they needed at Parkhead.

Ten days later, they got over the line at Tannadice to prove that good things do, indeed, come from adversity.

‘You don’t bottle it up for 12 months,’ said Postecoglou. ‘You use it for the next week — and the week after that. At the time, that group of players were really bonding together. They’d already been through some tough times earlier in the year but we’d got ahead in the league and had really turned things around.

‘Part of the progression, and I guess the development of the group, is how you react to times that are not as successful.

‘I thought the group really responded after that game and made sure they finished the season strongly — and as champions.