IF he wasn’t already aware of what he was walking into, Ange Postecoglou’s formal introduction to the Scottish football madhouse at the tail end of last week will have opened his eyes and then some.
Whether it was questions from the press on being second choice – at best - for his new role, transfers and overhauling Rangers, or the long-winded welcome from a supporter at a fan event which outlined how the media, officials and almost anyone else you care to mention were out to get Celtic, the 55-year-old took it in his stride.
The Australian managed to exude an air of laid-back confidence, while still making it clear on occasions that he will be accepting no nonsense from any players who may have rather been getting away with it over the last couple of years.
Postecoglou wants to ensure that Celtic’s Lennoxtown training ground is a world-class, elite sporting environment, and he spelled out that while some will flourish and improve under the demands which will now be placed upon them, others will fall by the wayside.
That would have been encouraging for Celtic supporters to hear, particularly as the perception – fairly or unfairly – was that standards had slipped on the training field since the departure of Brendan Rodgers.
As would his response to enquiries about the players who, according to predecessor Neil Lennon, wanted away from the club. As far as Postecoglou is concerned, those who fully buy into what he is implementing and are committed to the club can stay, and those who are not and fancy a move elsewhere, can go.
So too would Postecoglou’s description of the sort of football he wants his Celtic team to play tick a lot of boxes with fans, with attractive, attacking football the order of the day. But this is where a dose of realism has to come in on both the part of the Celtic fans and their new manager, with Postecoglou seemingly confident that he will get time to implement his style, even if results don’t immediately follow.
Despite the disparagement of Postecoglou’s experience from some quarters, the former Socceroos boss isn’t exactly green, so he will be aware of the expectations that come with the Celtic job. But he did rather give off the impression that he expects the fans will be a great deal more understanding of any teething problems than history suggests they will be.
There is already a sizeable section of the Celtic support that are hugely sceptical of Postecoglou’s qualifications for the role. An early Champions League exit at the hands of FC Midtjylland is hardly beyond the realms of possibility, with Postecoglou himself admitting that time was very much against him as he tries to somehow throw a competitive team together in his image in the space of four weeks or so.
Should that happen, and if early ground is lost on Rangers in the title race as Postecoglou gets his ideas across while bleeding new players into the team, then it will be interesting to see if his theory that Celtic fans will look beyond the results bears out. When he stated that belief, there is no doubt it caused an eyebrow or two to be raised.
In theory, that is exactly what should happen. But in reality? Well, there is a recognition from many fans that the Celtic board’s long-winded, ill-fated pursuit of Eddie Howe has left Postecoglou stuck in the stalls when his rebuild of the squad could have started long ago.
The new manager now has to identify, recruit and integrate perhaps as many as eight players into a Celtic team that has been stripped of its on-field leader, and stripped of its sense of self after a hugely damaging 12 months.
That process is underway, and the impending signing of Croatian under-21 defender Mario Vuskovic would appear a very decent start to the recruitment drive.
The Hadjuk Split centre-back is only 19, and he too will need time to bed into his new surroundings. But that patience will have to extend beyond individuals and to the collective Postecoglou project if it is to have any chance of success.
Postecoglou rounded off his maiden media event by telling the Celtic supporters that he wanted to deliver a team that everybody is talking about. He will hope that will be for all the right reasons. Because if his Celtic team get off to a sticky start, he will soon realise it will be his own future that will become the main topic of conversation.
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