Postecoglou and I face more scrutiny than other bosses, says Dons’ Glass
STEPHEN GLASS can feel pangs of Ange Postecoglou’s pain. Both men have been charged with overseeing a significant overhaul of squad personnel, style and culture. Neither has been able to phase in their philosophies to successful effect yet.
In pre-pandemic times, Glass and Postecoglou would have shared a post-match Pittodrie refreshment and compared rather similar notes.
The Aberdeen boss empathises with Postecoglou’s growing agitation that the scrutiny of his work is skewed somewhat by a school of thought that he doesn’t merit the job.
Glass (below) suggests their respective methods may indeed be subjected to greater critical inspection because coaching backgrounds and reputations were honed in different continents.
Asked if there was more scrutiny when a manager hasn’t coached in Scotland before, Glass said: ‘It feels that way at the moment. I’ve seen his (Postecoglou’s) interviews, I watch other managers’ interviews. And I see he’s fielding similar types of questions. I saw him referring to the condescending nature of the questions.
‘I’ve never said that myself but I feel sometimes you get questioned more than you should.
‘But results dictate it as well. If you’re winning games, the opportunity for people to question you is less.
‘And you accept it when you manage a huge club in Scotland, which I do and he does.
‘I can’t speak for him, but we just do what we believe is right and, if the results are different, I don’t think anyone is questioning it.’
When lured from Atlanta United 2 to replace Derek McInnes late last season, the Glass fanfare promised more than results.
The pledge was to bring a vibrancy back to Pittodrie, to introduce an exciting brand of attacking football featuring signings of ‘real quality’ to go with a peppering of local talent.
Optimism was high in a bright opening to the season yet, since a 2-1 Europa League qualifying win over Breidablik on August
12, the wheels have come off.
They’ve failed to win in five Premiership games after exiting Europe to Qarabag and the Premier Sports Cup against Raith Rovers in Kirkcaldy.
Meanwhile, at Celtic Park, scintillating displays laid waste to Dundee and St Mirren as belief blossomed in Angeball.
Conceding four goals in both Europa League group games, losing at Livingston and scraping a 1-1 draw at home to Dundee United has seen progress grind to a halt.
Glass said: ‘I don’t like talking about other clubs or managers. I like to focus on what we do but I do believe the situation is very similar.
‘When I watch Celtic play, they’re a very good team, packed with good players and I think it’s a matter of time before they start getting results. Every manager works differently. So we’re doing something a little bit different, believing in the way we work.
‘There’s a new staff in here with a whole new group of players with different skill sets. I also believe only it’s a matter of time until we start getting results.
‘It doesn’t happen overnight. Again, talking for us and not them, the amount of players brought in was probably a whole new team.
‘Guys who’ve been here a long time know what it takes to play for the club. There are new people coming in to play at a massive club and some are taking a bit longer than we’d have liked to bed in.
‘But we brought them to the club for a reason. We believe they’ll be big and impactful players and that this group can do something here.
‘Nothing has changed my view on that. In fact, it’s been solidified by performance levels. It’s individual mistakes costing us dearly.
‘It will take time. But when you say that it sounds like you want a long time. Everyone wants it to happen quickly.’
An unkind slate of upcoming fixtures, starting with the visit of Celtic this lunchtime, marks October down as a challenging spell for Glass to stage a recovery. Hibernian, Rangers and Hearts follow later in the month.
Former Rangers defender David Bates is one of the new faces attempting to settle and perform to peak in a transitional time.
Since leaving Ibrox, he’s started each of the last four seasons playing for new clubs — Hamburg, Sheffield Wednesday and Cercle Brugge.
‘It takes time, as I’ve experienced,’ said the 24-year-old. ‘It’s not easy to come in and click straight away when there are many new players.
‘As a central defender, you need to learn how your partner plays, his positioning and you are always learning from each other. Once everybody gets settled, we will have a good side.
‘Little things need to click into place for us then that should get the ball rolling.
Hopefully, that will be against
Celtic.’