Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has explained what the Hoops have been doing to prepare for the game against Rangers in such a short space of time.
The Bhoys will have barely had time to blink between the win over Dundee United and tomorrow’s visit of Rangers. 2 huge Celtic Park matches with barely much of a break in between.
That’s just the nature of things at this stage of the season, as Celtic continue to lay siege to our rivals in a bid to nab top spot in the Premiership.
The Hoops haven’t won a Glasgow derby for over 2 years and could finally oust Rangers from top spot with 3 points tomorrow. But Ange is refusing to change anything from his usual pre-match routine despite the ferocity of tomorrow’s clash.
Speaking via Celtic TV, Ange said: “To be fair we’ve only had 2 days since the weekend so we obviously had the day off after the game [Dundee United] for recovery. We’ve had a couple of sessions. Today was the first full session we had with the players and I’m sure they’re looking forward to it.
“But our pressure doesn’t change. Our preparation is the same. Make sure that we monitor how the guys are going and give them the work they need. The ones who need extra work, the ones who need freshening up, and make sure everyone is ready for tomorrow.
“I’m pretty consistent in saying our approach can’t change due to circumstances, whether that’s domestically or in Europe, home or way, I’m big on consistently saying to the players that we need to believe in something. If you believe in something really deep to your core then you don’t change, you can’t change, even if you want to, because it’s just part of you. When something is part of you and you feel it to your core, then whatever it is in life, it will take something very extreme to take you off that path. That includes, for me, the kind of football we play and the kind of football team we want to be.”
Ange Postecoglou not ready to change anything for Rangers visit
Of course, there will be different opposition instructions that Ange will need to take into consideration. However, it’s clear he isn’t looking to build up the game too much at Lennoxtown. Instead, he’s doing his best to keep the atmosphere calm and as normal as possible.
That’s the right thing to do too. After all, the players will know the importance of tomorrow night. They don’t necessarily need it to be consistently in the build-up to the game. That could throw an unnecessary level of pressure onto a team that will feel it can beat Rangers regardless.
You would expect Callum McGregor or whoever takes the lead in tomorrow night’s huddle to have a big rousing speech prepared. But there certainly doesn’t appear to have been any major motivational talks at Lennoxtown over the last few days. Instead, it’s been all about recovery.
We’re looking at the prospect of potentially going top of the Premiership, yet Ange is keen to play it down. Just as he always has been when we’ve been behind in the table also. You can see his thought-process. Trophies aren’t handed out in February and all the rest of it.
But serious momentum can be gained at this stage of the season. We already have 4 wins out of 4 to our name in 2022 already. Beating Rangers would symbolise a breakthrough moment for the manager and his group of players. Again, you can see why it isn’t something they’ve been desperate to play up.
All we can do as supporters is hope it doesn’t backfire. Ange isn’t changing his pre-match prep for anyone however, and it’s difficult to see how that could be construed as a negative.
In other news, Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou explains when he’ll make Daizen Maeda derby verdict
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