Angeexorciseddemons
Ange Postecoglou credits a week shut in under hotel quarantine as a catalyst for the success he is now enjoying with Celtic.
It has reached another high with the news he has been voted the William Hill Scottish Football Writers’ Association Manager of the Year.
Appointed as the Hoops’ new manager last June, the Australian was in no doubt a mammoth rebuild was needed if he was to deliver on his promise to produce a side that would win, and entertain while doing so.
He reflected: “You understand there is a massive responsibility as manager of this club, and know there’s a fairly major rebuild needed. I got my head round that pretty early.
“I had a week of isolation in the hotel room, where I could exorcise all my demons, and any doubts I had in terms of the enormity of it.
“I already had a blueprint drawn up in Japan, but it was there I really got down to work.
“There was no time to waste, no time to switch off. There was too much to do, and I was well aware of that.
“I knew the enormity of the task, and I was prepared to take that on.
“I was confident we could build something, but at the same time my feeling was we couldn’t go 12 months without some sort of success.
“I could have gone out there and said: ‘ This is going to be a rebuilding year’. For the most part, people would understand if we were competitive.
“My thinking was I had to use every moment I had to make sure we gave ourselves a chance of success this year in one form or another.
“Doing that would give me the opportunity to build what I want to build, and more or less to gain the trust and confidence of the people in the club, and who support it.”
Postecoglou’s first priority was one of housekeeping, with the unsettled trio of Odsonne Edouard, Kris Ajer and Ryan Christie all moved on to raise funding to bring in the new signings he had targeted.
“I was well aware that particularly those three wouldn’t be around for this season, and the tricky part was I knew we wouldn’t get in their replacements before they had gone for the most part,” he said.
“It was a juggling act we had to carry out. “But the key part was that, in those early days, I was always going to be judged on the players I brought in.
“That’s where people probably made their first judgment on you as a new manager coming in, because you could put into practice your words.
“We brought in Kyogo Furuhashi and Liel Abada, and they hit the ground running, which helped me to be able to continue that process.”
Yet if the Celtic boss admits his early days in the Scottish game were something of a highwire act, it is clear those are the memories he will cherish long after he has left the club.
“I love the challenge. I probably don’t coach my best if I get comfortable. I love that little bit of the unknown,” he said.
“It tends to bring out the best of me, and that’ll always be in me – where’s the next leap I can make?
“I haven’t had too many stumbles along the way. If I have a major stumble at some point, it may realign my vision of what the next step is.
“But I’m enjoying it at the moment. And at this club, I’ve just scratched the surface. It is the first year of trying to build something that will be special.”
As much as that is good news for Celtic supporters, Postecoglou warns they should never get too comfortable, either.
“A manager’s existence can change pretty quickly. You’re always working against some sort of clock somewhere,” he said.
“At the moment, I love being part of this football club.
“If my competitive juices are flowing, and I can see something special being built, I don’t get agitated about doing something else.
“I’ve always moved when I’ve felt I’ve accomplished something, and hopefully in the next seven days we have some real fantastic success.
“But that was never the endgame for me. “The endgame was always to build a team people will talk about long after I’m gone.”