Postecoglou progress applauded by Nicholas

Charlie Nicholas believes Ange Postecoglou is well ahead of schedule with his Celtic revival mission.

The Australian was appointed manager when the Hoops were widely deemed to be in disarray after missing out on 10 league titles, finishing 25 points behind Rangers.

In addition, key players like Kris Ajer, Odsonne Edouard and Ryan Christie moved to England.

After a mixed start to his reign in which they languished in mid-table, Postecoglou appears to have Celtic moving in the right direction, with seven wins in their last eight games in all competitions before the international break helping elevate them to second in the cinch Premiership.

Nicholas is loving the football being played under the Aussie and praised him for instilling his style of play so quickly.

In an interview to promote the recently launched Prostate Cancer Memorial, the former Celtic striker said: “I really like what Ange is trying to do. He’s building in a Tommy Burns style, if you like. It’s a front-foot approach with great energy to it.

“People sometimes say he doesn’t really have a Plan B.

“I don’t care. I didn’t care about that when Brendan Rodgers was the manager either. I just love watching what Ange is trying to create “There’s still problems in defence but you feel as if Celtic are coming back now. I thought it would maybe take six to eight months to get going and then you wonder if the manager will get that time from the fans but the fans are all enjoying it.

“I think he’s quite a bit ahead of schedule, certainly in relation to what I was expecting.

“Some people will debate that because I know they’re still second in the league and four points behind Rangers. But I just look at his team and think ‘yes, I like this a great deal’.

“Yes, there will be problems at the back along the way but tell me a Celtic team that didn’t make mistakes. There have been very few that didn’t.

There’s an energy and drive about them. They want to please the fans, and that’s the Celtic way.”

Ange Postecoglou.