WIZARDS OF OZ ARE LIGHTING UP THE LEAGUE
Postecoglou is delighted to see so many fellow Aussies in SPFL
PREVIOUSLY employed at Yokohama F. Marinos, Ange Postecoglou was always likely to make the Japanese market his first port of call for identifying value signings for Celtic. Kyogo Furuhashi was the first of four to arrive from the J-League during last season’s comprehensive rebuild and it wasn’t until this summer that he made Aaron Mooy his first Australian signing.
That said, the Parkhead boss has been thrilled to see so many of his rival Premiership bosses put faith in the footballers of his native A-League.
Including Mooy, no fewer than 13 Aussies are now operating in the Scottish top flight. Today’s opponents Hearts have three, thanks to Robbie Neilson’s decision to add Cammy Devlin, Nathaniel Atkinson and Kye Rowles in the last three windows.
Where once there have been the odd Socceroo such as Tom Rogic, Craig Moore or Patrick Kisnorbo skipping around the league, there is now at least one Australian at eight of the 12 top-flight teams.
Post-Brexit, there’s as much paperwork involved in recruiting a player from Spain as there is from Sydney and the Celtic boss sees obvious benefits in reaching Down Under.
‘I think it’s a good market for Scottish clubs,’ says Postecoglou. ‘It’s happened in the past and these things maybe go in phases.
‘Five or 10 years ago, there were a few Aussies here at Celtic, Rangers and Hearts so there’s always been a pretty strong Australian influence.
‘Hearts signed Cammy Devlin last year and I thought he was outstanding for them, so that probably encouraged them to go back into that market.
‘There’s good value there. You know what you’re getting with Australian footballers.
‘Irrespective of ability, they’re all strong characters who work hard at training and give everything in games.
‘There’s certainly some value there and Hearts have picked up some good ones.
‘The others can definitely make an impact.’
At one stage Hearts also had the McGowan brothers Ryan and Dylan on their books, players whose whole-hearted approach endeared them to the Tynecastle crowd.
Both are back in the division with St Johnstone and Kilmarnock respectively, while Hibs, Dundee United, St Mirren and Livingston also dipped into the Australian market this summer.
According to Postecoglou, the benefits work both ways.
‘Scotland is a good platform for Aussie footballers,’ he continues. ‘It’s a big step in their career, it’s a competitive league and it puts them in the shop window if they have aspirations to go higher.
‘But you still have to perform at a good level here in the Premiership to make sure they’re seen.
‘This is a good first step for these players.’
Devlin, Rowles and Atkinson all debuted as Hearts took on FC Zurich in the first leg of their Europa League play-off on Thursday evening.
A 2-1 defeat in Switzerland has left their hopes of qualifying in the balance but with group stage football guaranteed regardless, Postecoglou believes the Edinburgh club will continue to improve this season.
‘Hearts have had a couple of strong years under Robbie and did well last season,’ he adds.
‘I think European football will definitely help them. It gives players more confidence when they test themselves against other sides in Europe and they take that into the league games, particularly if they get positive results.
‘They’re still in the tie after Thursday night and hopefully they’ll get into the Europa.’
Celtic’s strong start to their title defence has featured three comprehensive wins over Aberdeen, Ross County and Kilmarnock. With Rangers having won three and drawn one of their opening four games, there has been talk of either team recording an unbeaten campaign but Postecoglou shrugs off the idea that the league lacks competition.
Hearts, too, have started strongly with only a late equaliser from Hibs’ Martin Boyle — another Australian international — denying them maximum points going into today’s game at Parkhead.
Postecoglou continues: ‘Every team you come up against in this league is tough. If someone can tell me what game is a gimme, please do.
‘No one thought that we’d go to Kilmarnock and get an easy game, it was the same the previous week against Ross County.
‘We approach them the same way. What’s key for us is that we’re the best we can be.
‘We know that if we play our football, we’re hard to stop. We want to play at a certain tempo and intensity for the whole game.
‘We don’t want to have dips. Last week we started fast but in the 89th minute we were still closing down the opposition trying to get a fifth and sixth goal.
‘Starting well with our tempo is big for us. But maintaining it for the full 95 minutes is also important.’
Postecoglou’s goal is not only to replicate last season’s title success but also make a mark in the Champions League.
Automatic qualifiers for the competition’s group stage, Celtic will be required to make a significant jump up in quality and tempo, and training sessions have been devised to try and maximise the team’s output.
‘We try to train every day as if we’re preparing to play against the best,’ explains the manager.
‘That’s part of the reason for our transfer business this window, to have a really strong squad that ensures the training level is high.
‘Every player has competition for his place, a player beside him who can push him to another level. Those types of things raise the intensity and level — and improve players.
‘In terms of our game, it’s constantly evolving and improving. It has to, because last season we’d just put a team together.
‘Whatever we did a year ago was just the basis. We want to develop as a team and be stronger.
‘That’s what we’re working on at the moment. It’s been a strange start, only having one game a week. But that has allowed us to work on things at training that we couldn’t do last year and that will help us.’
It is, of course, one thing to blow away Kilmarnock or even Hearts. Quite another to be taking on Real Madrid or Manchester City at their own game.
Postecoglou is not for changing his approach.
‘A lot of people say we can’t do things,’ he retorts. ‘That’s a great motivator for us.
‘The proof will be in the pudding. We certainly won’t change our approach.
‘It’s only natural when you play against better opposition that it affects your own game.
‘There will be adjustments we need to make to our game because of the opposition we’re up against.
‘But for me it’s all about your intent. Are you trying to survive or trying to make an impact?
‘We’ll always be a team trying to make an impact.’