Celtic captain Callum McGregor has stated that manager Ange Postecoglou keeps asking his players behind the scenes whether they believe they can keep improving.
Celtic are 3 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership and have already won the Premier Sports Cup this season. A potential domestic treble is on offer for the Bhoys this term, and it’s clearly something that’s exciting supporters.
Improvement on last season has been there for all to see. Celtic are playing a quicker, more exciting brand of football. Our consistency levels have improved – highlighted by our 31-game unbeaten domestic record. All the while we managed 9 points in our Europa League group this season.
But McGregor has outlined how Ange isn’t ready to rest with that. Instead, as the title run-in reaches peak intensity levels, Callum has revealed how the squad are constantly being pushed in training.
As quoted by the Herald, Callum said: “The level of football we’ve played has been very, very high, and certainly right up there with some of the most attractive football that we’ve played. Certainly what I’ve played at this club as well.
“It just leaves us in a good place, and the beauty of it is that the manager is asking us if we can get even better, keep improving our football. He’s not going to let us rest on what we’ve achieved so far. We’re going to keep pushing and keep trying to get better.
“He says it all the time that every game is an opportunity to get even better and show even more.”
Celtic won’t ever get away with stagnation under Ange Postecoglou
When it comes to title-chasing, there’s always a genuine risk that it consumes the squad. That they get so wrapped up on just beating the opposition that not much focus is placed on overall improvement.
We’ve seen that at Celtic in the past. A lack of genuine improvement was felt during Gordon Strachan’s reign in particular where, despite our title successes, we didn’t really manage sustained improvement year on year. The football didn’t particularly improve.
Ange, however, doesn’t look as though he’s the kind of manager who’s going to let the players away with that kind of mentality. He wants to see constant improvement. It doesn’t matter if we’re 3 points clear or 25 points clear. In this sense, the table is irrelevant.
It gives the players something to constantly work towards away from the stresses of the title race. It allows them to not be solely focused on just being better or more consistent than Rangers.
This is hopefully a mentality that will lead us well in Europe in the coming years. After all, we certainly haven’t reached our full potential on the continent.
So it’s great to see Ange consistently challenge and question his players on their general improvement. It makes you even more excited to see the finished article of this side.
In other news, Celtic hero Matt O’Riley found something a “little annoying” about Denmark U21 debut
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