Ange: ‘I stopped hoping and wishing when I got out of primary school’
Ange Postecoglou might be a veteran student of the game, but he has given up one oldschool habit.
The Celtic boss isn’t banking on his team getting any advantage from Rangers’ continued progress in the Europa League.
There’s a widely held theory that the Hoops can benefit from their greatest rivals having to play extra games in midweek.
If Postecoglou believes that will make any difference to the battle for the Premiership title, he certainly isn’t admitting it.
The Australian said: “I stopped hoping and wishing when I got out of primary school.
“For me, what has been important during this whole process is to make sure that I don’t get derailed or distracted from what is really important.
“What is really important for me is what happens behind these four walls here. These are the things we can control.
“If we play our football and do it well, we don’t have to worry about anyone else, or hope or wish for anything.
“It’s about making sure that we are planning to be successful, working hard on the things we can control, and not being distracted by the things that others do.”
The third Old Firm game of the season takes place at Ibrox a fortnight today.
Postecoglou admits, albeit slightly reluctantly, that his men are in better shape than when they lost 1-0 away to the Light Blues back in August.
He went on: “We are in a very different place in terms of where we were as a squad and a team.
“Things were much in their infancy back then, but I still thought we played OK on the day. We didn’t win the game but we gave a good account of ourselves and were in it for large parts.
“A lot of things have happened since then, and we are now a different team.
“I think they are a different team, too. They have a different manager, so it will be a new challenge for us.
“You want to be involved in these big games, particularly when there is meaning behind each one.
“You always want to do well in the derby games, but sometimes if it’s a dead rubber, it can take a little bit away from it.
“There will be big consequences on all these games, and that’s what you want. You want to be playing in front of big crowds, both friendly and hostile, knowing that everything is on the line.
“That’s why we love this game, and why we want to be involved.”
Postecoglou believes that winning the League Cup gave his squad an increased hunger to win honours.
He said: “The group has proven for a long time now that they are resilient, and embracing the challenges ahead.
“We have one trophy, and what that did was give us an appetite for more.
“We didn’t stop there and say: ‘OK, we have the trophy in the bag, and it doesn’t matter what happens for the rest of the year’.
“Since then they have tackled every challenge in front of us, and hopefully we can get an opportunity to win some more silverware.”