Sport
Does Ange Postecoglou already regret joining Celtic?
Ange Postecoglou has only been in Scotland for two months but the new Celtic boss speaks like and has the demeanour of a man with regrets. A left field appointment from the start, the Australian who had never previously coached in Europe spoke of changing the Glasgow club’s culture and style of play. Now, Postecoglou may well regret ever accepting the challenge.
Celtic have suffered a dismal start to life under the 55-year-old, crashing out of Champions League qualifying at the first opportunity and losing their opening league fixture of the season. “We can’t afford time. We’ve got to bounce back and get results,” Postecoglou replied when asked whether his process would take time.
Those who observed Ange Postecoglou in Australian and Asian football always said he would need patience to impose his ideas on Celtic. There have been signs of his ideas in the way the Hoops have played at times this season, but Postecoglou has seemingly been denied the resources to truly build a team in his own image.
Significant squad upheaval was expected this summer and key figures like Kristoffer Ajer and Scott Brown have indeed left Celtic Park, with others such as Odsonne Edouard and Ryan Christie also potentially on the way out. The problem, however, isn’t in the players that have left, it’s in the players that have arrived.
Until three weeks ago, Celtic had yet to make a single senior squad addition. They crashed out of Champions League qualification with two new signings, Kyogo Furuhashi and Carl Starfelt, in self-isolation having not been signed in time to feature. Furuhashi made his debut in the defeat to Hearts on Saturday having met his teammates for the first time just a few hours earlier.
Postecoglou was forced to start two youngsters with only a handful of first team appearances between them at centre back away to FC Midtjylland. The Australian coach clearly has a vision of how Celtic should play under his stewardship, but he simply doesn’t have the players right now to achieve that vision.
Further additions have arrived this week in the form of Joe Hart and James McCarthy but both have the look of panic signings. Long-term contracts have been handed to both players despite their age and injury track record in the case of the latter. Ange Postecoglou has been let down, would he have taken the Celtic job if he’d known two months ago what he knows now?
“It takes time, it takes training sessions, it takes time, it takes games,” Postecoglou attempted to reason after the loss to Hearts, but the Australian has more than once aimed veiled barbs at his employers over a lack of backing. “At the moment we’re throwing teams together, I am anyway, and that’s affecting it.”
New Celtic chief executive Dominic McKay was initially applauded for thinking outside the box by appointing Ange Postecoglou but he has so far failed to support his manager. McKay is learning on the job and that shows in some of the decisions that have been made and the hesitancy with which transfers have been sanctioned.
The hope for those of a green and white persuasion was that the departure of Peter Lawwell would signify the start of a more modern approach at Celtic Park, but the same old mistakes have been made- the club still hasn’t hired a Director of Football despite that being an apparent priority for much of 2021.
There’s still time for Ange Postecoglou to turn things around at Celtic. The transfer window is open until the end of the month and Celtic, as one of Scottish’s two biggest clubs, remain an attractive proposition to prospective new signings. However, by the time Postecoglou gets the players he needs in through the door, Celtic may well find themselves cut adrift.
You could earn up to £10 (or currency equivalent) in bonus funds by joining Colossus with our New Player Bonus. Click here to join the action.
