ANGE POSTECOGLOU says he is more than capable of dealing with the pressure that comes with being Celtic manager, and that he isn’t going to fall apart when he comes in for criticism.
Postecoglou slapped down suggestions during the week that Celtic’s Champions League exit to FC Midtjylland was ‘catastrophic’, as he reacted to his first major on-field setback as manager of the club.
But he says he is fully aware of the passion of the Celtic supporters, and when asked whether he understood he was now in an environment where every defeat will be treated like a disaster, Postecoglou said: “That’s OK, I’m glad people are taking care of my sensibilities and thinking I’m this fragile little petal that’s going to fall apart.
“I’ve grown up in the big, bad world of football and I understand it. I think people have every right to show that emotion. I’m passionate about the game and I love people being passionate about it because I know that passion goes both ways.
“People talk about the special atmosphere at Celtic Park, and I’ve already felt it. If you want that, you can only get it if people care. You can’t have people care then expect them to react well if things don’t go well.
“We had a disappointing night. I expect there to be blowback and criticism from that, and people disappointed.
“You know what, as soon as we turn it around I think we will be equally the same amount of support and love that the club needs and this group of players deserves. I’ve got no issue with that. Other people seem to be more affected by how that’s going to affect me.
“I had a very hard father who didn’t give me kisses and cuddles and told me he loved me. I had to earn these things along the way.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel