Pressure? I eat it up for breakfast, mate. The adrenaline of that fine line between success and failure is what excites me
POSTECOGLOU REVELLING IN TITLE HEAT AT PARKHEAD
THANKS to the precedent set by a remarkable past nine months, Ange Postecoglou has many parts to play as Celtic endeavour to make sure a season of renewal also ends as one of success. Motivator. Psychologist. Leader of men. Folk hero. The 56-year-old has shown himself capable of handling the challenges of wearing all those hats and more in guiding what was a splintered, crisis-hit outfit to within five matches of a title absolutely no one saw coming.
It is his passion for another role, though, that is likely to feature heavily as the nervous energy involved in attempting to execute this final push over the line bubbles to the surface. Tightrope-walker.
Postecoglou has a background in high-stakes football matches. He won two Australian A-League titles with Brisbane Roar. Yokohama F Marinos lifted their first Japanese crown in 15 years under his watch. He managed in a World Cup finals and got an ageing Australia squad through play-offs against war-torn Syria and Honduras before walking away on a point of principle in 2018.
All week, perhaps due to seeing an extended unbeaten run in domestic matches ended by the Scottish Cup
semi-final loss to Rangers,
I love going into weeks as tension rises and obstacles begin to appear
Postecoglou has faced questions about ‘pressure’. Dealing with it. Blocking it out. Keeping it from his players.
In truth, he’s drinking it in. Every drop. This is what being involved at this level of the game is about, after all. Laying everything on the line. Trying to maintain balance amid the mental gymnastics of being so close to reaching the highest highs and, yet, still in danger of plummeting to the lowest lows. Of having everything — or nothing.
‘I eat it up for breakfast, mate,’ stated Postecoglou. ‘No, seriously I enjoy it. It’s why I love what I do. If you know what the outcome’s going to be, I wouldn’t enjoy what I do.
‘The adrenaline of that fine line between success and failure is what excites me. We could have won last week (against Rangers). It could have gone our way, but that’s the beauty of the sport. I don’t see it as pressure. This is the bit I love.
‘That probably tells you about me as a person, but I love going into a game with it all on the line. Potentially, you could end up with something fantastic or come out of it bitterly disappointed. I enjoy that.
‘Personally, especially since I’ve been a manager, I’ve always tried to maintain an even keel win or lose. I try to make sure that I take the emotion out of what I see — because there’s enough emotion running through the players, staff and everyone involved at the club.
‘My role is to try and steer us through the good and the bad. I need to stay calm.’
So far in his career, his approach has generally worked. Those successes with Brisbane, Yokohama F Marinos and Australia are likely to be called upon over the coming weeks as the inevitable tension rises and starts presenting obstacles.
‘Those were big moments but I enjoyed them. I’ve been lucky that most of those moments have gone my way,’ he said. ‘If they hadn’t, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here. I wouldn’t have a career.
‘What you do on a daily basis gets you into positions where it’s a big game with a lot a stake.
‘If you’re lucky, you end up on the positive side of it. And that then fuels you to go again because you want that feeling again.
‘You want to go into another big game, with big consequences. You want to win it because you know how it will make you feel, along with the players, the staff and most importantly the supporters.
‘That’s what drives me, wanting to create these moments.
‘From the outside, maybe people see it as pressure. For me, I just see it as an opportunity to do something special.’
Former Rangers boss Graeme Souness once talked about real pressure being a single mother on a tight budget trying to feed her children rather than being tasked with the job of winning football matches and Postecoglou sees much in that approach.
‘I think that’s right,’ he said. ‘You have to keep things in perspective.
‘Listen, I’m under no illusions. I know that our supporters see this as very important. To them, it’s not just football. For the fans of this football club, it’s not just about the team winning or losing.
‘It’s a way of life for them, so it dictates their whole week. We understand we have a responsibility and there are consequences if you’re not successful.
‘There are a lot of people out there who have to deal with far more difficult things than I do on a weekly basis. At the same time, we also carry the responsibility of representing this club.
‘I’m totally invested in that and what this club is about.’
If Postecoglou is a self-confessed tightrope-walker, though, he sees a need for his players to show themselves as bona-fide prizefighters beginning with today’s visit to Ross County. Losing to Rangers at Hampden no doubt put them on the canvas for a while, but they need to clear the head and bounce back.
‘Even the best suffer blows. You learn about the best boxers by how they take a punch, not how many they throw,’ said Postecoglou.
‘We’ve had some setbacks this year and reacted well to them.
‘That’s what people have missed about this group. They’re really determined and resilient — and prepared to tackle this stuff. The pressure that’s on right now is no different to what’s been on us on a weekly basis from round six.
‘From that perspective, the players are in a good place. If we perform, we’ll get three points. If we get them, we’ll be a step closer to achieving something special.’
Postecoglou, however, has every respect for the job opposite number Malky Mackay, a target for managerless Hibs, has done in guiding County into the top six.
‘He’s done a brilliant job. At the start of the year, most people wrote them off a bit,’ he said. ‘He’s not only improved their results, he’s got them into the top six playing good football.
‘It’s a credit to him that he stuck to it. I’m sure he’ll be motivated to get them as high up the table as possible. He’s been fantastic for them.
‘Everyone of the managers who has survived has done a good job — because a few of them haven’t.’
That’s tightrope-walking for you. One false move and it’s a long way down. Even so, Postecoglou has no worries about putting his best foot forward.